Saltus Grammar School head boy Cathal Rynne has been awarded the McGill Bermuda Scholarship 2016.

Mr Rynne, who was also house captain, will start studying mechanical engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in September.

The 18-year-old from Smith’s completed eight Advanced Placement examinations and an A-Level in French in the Saltus Graduate Years Programme, the McGill Bermuda Scholarship Trust stated.

“He was on the Headmaster’s Honour Role and received the Academic Attainment Award in his penultimate year at Saltus.

“Upon graduating, he was additionally awarded the Ruth Henderson Performing Arts Award and the subject prize for physics.”

Together with the head girl, he spearheaded a resurgence of the Student Council and has also represented the school and Bermuda in public speaking.

He was part of the Bermuda team attending the UNIS-UN Youth Conference in New York last year and has also completed the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Silver Awards.

In 2013, he was awarded the Alliance Française Summer Scholarship to study in France for four weeks.

A fan of music and the arts, Mr Rynne performed in numerous school plays and musicals.

He also took part in the Bermuda Shakespeare Schools Festival and held the lead male role in 2014 Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society Christmas pantomime.

Mr Rynne was a member of the Saltus Senior Orchestra and has also been the bassist for the Senior Wind Band, Concert Band and Jazz Band. He won the Ruth Henderson Award for Music last year.

Mr Rynne also has a wide interest in sports, having been a member of the Dolphins Swim Team and competing in local and overseas meets for six years.

A volunteer Swim America swimming instructor, he was also a junior coach for the Dolphins.

He has also competed on Saltus’s cross country team and played football, rugby, softball, volleyball and track and field for Watlington House, of which he was captain.

The McGill Bermuda Scholarship Trust was established in Bermuda in 1988 and offers the Dudley and Debra Butterfield Scholarship and the McGill Bermuda Scholarship in alternate years.

Each awards the scholar C$9,000 per year and for up to four years of study in a degree programme at McGill University.