Athabasca family’s business helps students build a brighter future
Melewka Structures & Design gives $10,000 to First in Family Student Award
There was a point in Joshua Flis’s life when he wasn’t sure if he’d ever achieve the dream of a university education.
Growing up in a small town in Ontario, no one in Flis’s family had gone to university nor expected him to do so. When he moved out on his own, he couldn’t shake a general feeling of disappointment in his life and lack of direction, which started taking a toll on his mental health.
“This loss of confidence felt like a gutted sense of purpose,” he remembers.
Fortunately, Flis found his purpose thanks to Athabasca University, where 70% of learners—roughly 25,000 a year—are just like him: the first in their family to pursue higher education.
Now in his third year of the Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Major program, he has his sights set on a career helping others.
It’s a turnaround in direction that Flis credits in part to AU’s First in Family Student Award. He is one of 38 AU students who have received the $1,000 award since it was created to help first-generation university students break barriers and participate in higher education.
Donation paves way for more First in Family awards
Thanks to the generous support of a family-run Alberta builder with Athabasca roots, even more students like Flis will benefit from the First in Family award.
Melewka Structures & Design donated $10,000 to the First in Family Student Award. The Alberta-based builder is run by the Semashkewich family of Athabasca—including company president Lewis Semashkewich and his son and chief operating officer John.
The Semashkewichs are well respected in Athabasca and beyond for their entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen, and community mindedness.
As president of Melewka Structures & Design, Lewis has more than 30 years of project management and leadership experience and is actively involved in the community. His wife, Penny, is the owner of and operator of Penny’s Headquarters, a salon in Athabasca. She’s a past-president of the Athabasca District Chamber of Commerce and currently sits on the board of directors.
Their son John (Master of Business Administration ’24) recently graduated from AU while continuing to work as Melewka’s chief operating officer. He and his wife Taralee also recently welcomed their first child.
“Building community has been a major focus of our personal and professional lives,” said Lewis Semashkewich. “Like AU, our work has strong roots in Athabasca, but the impact stretches much further to communities far and wide.
We are proud to support our hometown university and to help AU students build a better future for themselves, for their families, and for their own communities.
70% of AU students are first in family to pursue a university education
AU President Dr. Alex Clark described the gift as “life changing” for students forging their own paths to a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.
The First in Family award is one of the ways in which Athabasca University is like no other post-secondary institution. Dr. Alex Clark, AU president
“Seventy per cent of our students are the first in their family to attend university,” Clark added. “These are passionate learners who, like AU, have the courage to be different and to forge a new path for themselves and their families.”
Thanks to his AU experience, Flis says he’s grown in new and unexpected ways, including working as a research assistant on a project exploring ways to help prevent violence against women and girls. Gone is the sense of disappointment, replaced by a greater purpose to help others realize their highest potential.
“My academic pursuits are not just a means to personal growth but are doors to broader service and impact,” he said. “The First in Family award is a testament to the belief that people matter—a principle I live by and see reflected in the generosity of donors like the Semashkewich family.”
AU staff, community donations
Clark announced the $10,000 gift while surrounded by AU faculty and staff and community members at AU’s annual golf tournament on Sept. 13.
The event also allowed AU staff and community members to donate to the First in Family award through a putting challenge and other activities. In total, AU raised an additional $1,400 toward the student award.
“I am so thankful for the generosity of Melewka Structures & Design and the Semashkewich family, but also everyone in the community and our own team members,” Clark said. “Thanks to you, even more AU students are able to follow their dreams and realize their highest contributions for a better, more equitable world.”
