Jessica Saunders says the key to her job is being a good listener, non-judgmental and non-biased.

Saunders is a child and youth care practitioner for Macdonald Youth Services in Winnipeg, a United Way member organization that “fosters hope and opportunities to empower children, youth and families throughout Manitoba.” MYS has over 700 employees and served over 6,200 youth in 2008-2009. Saunders is based at one of its many group homes and works with six boys aged 13-18.

“I thought it was going to be scary but it’s not,” she says. “It surprised me that the kids can still be happy after all of the things that happened to them. They can still laugh and have fun.”

Saunders graduated from high school in 2007. She went to university for one year and then took a year off to decide what she wanted to do. Saunders knew an instructor at Red River College who told her about its Child and Youth Care program.

“I looked up the course, read about it and knew I wanted to do it.”

Saunders enrolled in the program in 2009. At the time she knew she wanted to help kids but had no idea what type of job she wanted.

“If I hadn’t gone to Red River College, I probably wouldn’t have known about working at a group home,” she explains. Read More →

From the time he was a young boy, Dan Dupuis has dreamed of working with airplanes. However while growing up, the high cost of earning a pilot’s license was prohibitive for his family.

After graduating high school and beginning to work, it didn’t look like Dupuis’s dream would be possible.

“I got married pretty young,” he says, which made it difficult to stop working and begin studying for a career change.

It wasn’t until someone connected with Red River College asked Dupuis about what he would consider his dream job to be, that things started to come together.

Dupuis didn’t hesitate. “I answered that my dream job would to be to work with aircraft.”

Shortly thereafter, in 2007, Dupuis began his studies at Red River College. He enrolled in the Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Diploma program.

Back in elementary and high school, Dupuis was not a strong student, and found studying frustrating. “I didn’t read very well,” he says.  “I didn’t like the kind of school work we did.”

However, for Dupuis, studying something that he was passionate about made all the difference. Read More →

Red River College continues to take a lead role in providing management and leadership education to the health sector in Manitoba, through the delivery of its Health Service Management (HSM) program.

In October 2011, a class of 32 students — all of them employees of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority — successfully completed the program, making for a total of more than 200 HSM graduates over the last 10 years.

The program’s success rate demonstrates the College’s continued commitment to leadership in the health service field, and to providing health sector employees with the knowledge and theory to become effective, proactive managers.

“They are acquiring relevant and applied skills and knowledge relating to management and leadership in health services,” says Jo-Anne Shay, Program Director of RRC’s School of Continuing and Distance Education. “It’s a very applied focus, so these are skills that have been identified by the Canadian College of Health Leaders. That is the foundation of this program.”

The HSM program is open to anyone, but is tailor-made for those already employed in management positions or those aspiring to career advancement within the health sector. The WRHA has built its capacity over the years by sponsoring many of its own employees’ as students, and much of the program’s success can be attributed to the participation of key health care professionals who serve as guest lecturers on a regular basis. Read More →

In the world of marketing and branding, it helps to have a strong connection to your subject matter, since much of your job revolves around helping people create emotional ties of their own.

That’s certainly the case with Red River College alum Kyle Romaniuk, who as president of creative agency Cocoon Branding oversaw the recent rebrand of long-running children’s charity The Rainbow Society, now known as The Dream Factory.

Romaniuk, who graduated from RRC’s Graphic Design program in 1996, has been serving on the charity’s board since 2009. But his connection runs much deeper than that.

After being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 12, Romaniuk was on the receiving end of his own dream come true — a chance to swim with dolphins, made possible by The Rainbow Society. He sees his current work with the newly-revamped organization as a way to give back to a particularly worthy cause.

“My whole family was encouraged to participate in my ‘dream’ … so for my parents and my sister, I know it’s one of the highlights of their lives, as well as mine,” says Romaniuk, whose dream took him to the Dolphin Resource Center in the Florida Keys (the same place where TV’s Flipper was trained).

“It was during one of the most difficult times of our lives — while we were all trying to deal with the cancer of a child, which is hard enough on a kid, never mind how hard it would be on a parent. So it was an opportunity we all got to experience together, get our minds off the illness and treatments, and just escape in the dream.” Read More →

Impressions of Grant Maluga can be deceiving, particularly if your first meeting takes place on a football field. Six feet tall and broadly built, Maluga might come off as an intimidating presence. But nothing could be further from the truth.

“People might look at me and think I’m immature or tough or troubled,” he says. “But on in the inside, I’m soft as a teddy bear.”

Maluga moved to Winnipeg this past autumn to join the Winnipeg Rifles as a defensive lineman while taking Biindigen College Studies at Red River College. Biindigen (Ojibwe for “welcome”) combines introductory college programs with Aboriginal culture, language and history courses. Maluga says he feels at home.

“Everyone in Biindigen is friendly… you get a lot of one-on-one attention there,” he says. “A teacher the other day told me, ‘You’re more of a friend than a student.’”

Some people might be surprised at the momentum in Maluga’s life, considering the hurdles he’s had to overcome. When he was eight, his mother left the family home in Brandon; he hasn’t seen her since. He’s also had to cope with his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

“Once I was in Grade 6, I realized I had ADHD. The stories I was told about when I was younger, you can hear the ADHD in them.”

Maluga took medication, but the pills either failed to curb his behavioural problems or turned him into – in his words – “a zombie.” Arguments with his father were frequent.

“I could tell I was going downhill,” he says.

In high school, however, another option presented itself. A teacher at his school suggested football. Read More →

“One hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank nor what my clothes looked like…but the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.” (Forest E. Witcraft).

Loretta Sinclair is important in the life of not only one child, but in the lives of all the children she works with.

After a lot of hard work, determination and vision, Loretta recently graduated from Red River College with her diploma in Early Childhood Education. A mother and grandmother from Little Saskatchewan First Nation, Loretta completed a portion of her studies via distance education and the remainder in St. Laurent as part of a community based-training initiative in that Métis community.

Attending classes in St. Laurent meant driving many kilometres back and forth between home and school. This commitment to her education served as a great role model to other students, and Loretta took it upon herself to support and encourage them to complete their studies, as well.

Loretta now works as the director of the childcare centre in her home community and feels strongly about the movement of First Nations communities to meet provincial licensing standards by 2015. She wants Aboriginal childcare centres and families to have the same benefits, licensing, trained workers, and subsidies for parents as mainstream centres.

It is this vision that led to her decision to immediately begin her post-diploma training in the Studies in Aboriginal Child Care Certificate program, in order to achieve her ECE III — a requirement for directors of licensed centres. Loretta is working on this training via distance education and is encouraging other students in her community to begin their training, as well.  Read More →

The return of the Winnipeg Jets is the feel-good story of the year. But here at Red River College, we’ve got a different reason to be proud.

The Jets’ entire communications team — responsible for coordinating the May 2011 announcement that turned much of the city’s downtown into a giant victory party — is comprised entirely of graduates of our industry-renowned Creative Communications program.

Even better, the head of the department has for years enjoyed a close working relationship with the program, which he feels provides grads with relevant, real-world training.

“I’ve relied heavily on CreComm, not only for staffing resources in terms of graduating students, but also production resources from the College’s communications and multimedia programs,” says 1998 graduate Scott Brown, now the Senior Director of Corporate Communications for the Jets, the MTS Centre, and True North Sports & Entertainment.

“What the College is doing right now in terms of training is really in tune with what’s going on in the media industry … No amount of training can ever prepare you for what actually happens in the day-to-day of your job, particularly in the sports and entertainment industry. But I know the (CreComm) grads coming in are prepared to learn, and prepared to apply the tools they’ve been taught in a very flexible manner.”

Brown, who upon graduating spent six years as the late-night and weekend sports anchor for CTV Winnipeg, is supported in his current duties by Communications Coordinators Kalen Qually and Christina Caligiuri — both fellow CreComm grads. Together, they’re responsible for all communications on behalf of True North, MTS Centre, and the Jets, including printed publications, media relations, press releases and press conferences. Read More →

They’re the unsung heroes of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ world: The small army of volunteers comprising the Big Blue Flight Crew, without whose hard work and dedication game days wouldn’t even get off the ground.

Equally invaluable? The person tasked with directing the Flight Crew to success — in this case, Red River College grad Kelly Seifert, who earned her Volunteer Management credentials in December 2010.

Seifert, who completed the program via RRC’s School of Continuing & Distance Education, now works as the Volunteer & Event Staff coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, overseeing the 200-plus volunteers who provide such game day services as ticket scanning, ushering, shuttle service, and on-field promotions.

As she points out, volunteers are a crucial component of the game day experience, and their efforts help to ensure operations run smoothly.

“Some people think they just want to watch the game or get free tickets,” says Seifert of her volunteers, who also assist with concerts, amateur games and even administrative work at the Canad Inns Stadium site. “But it’s more than that. A lot of them come because they want to connect to the community, or meet new people, or experience the behind the scenes action of the football club. I’m so glad they come out and want to dedicate their time to us.”

Seifert had prior experience with volunteers when she signed on with Red River College. Having already completed RRC’s Recreation Facilitator for Older Adults program in 2005, she worked frequently with volunteers while serving as recreation facilitator for various long-term care facilities.

At the time she enrolled in the program, she was working as recreation director for the town of St. Laurent; she landed the job with the Bombers while competing the program by distance. Read More →

She wanted to learn more about the history of Aboriginal people in Canada. Now, she’s helping to shape their future.

As Events Coordinator for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, RRC grad Janell Melenchuk (Aboriginal Self-Government Administration, 2010) plays an integral role in giving voice to survivors of the residential school system.

“I’m constantly learning,” says Melenchuk, one of hundreds of success stories who graduate each year from RRC’s School of Indigenous Education. “To be involved with this work — to meet with survivors and hear their stories, and to be part of something that will have an impact on Canada’s history — is really amazing.”

Formerly a resident of Creighton, Saskatchewan, Melenchuk enrolled at RRC because she wanted to learn more about Aboriginal culture, in particular, governance practices and the history of First Nations people in Canada. While a student here, she benefited from the attention and wisdom of her instructors, as well as the many resources made available by the College’s Aboriginal Student Support & Community Relations department.

“The support that you receive from the staff and the teachers is overwhelming,” says Melenchuk, who’s currently completing her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Winnipeg.

“There’s always somebody there that will assist you and have your back — whether financially, or just in your personal life. Especially when you’re dealing with the stress of moving to a new city — they’re amazingly supportive, and you don’t always get that at educational institutions.” Read More →

A student and an instructor from Red River College were among the honourees at a recent event recognizing the best and brightest of Portage la Prairie’s business and volunteer communities.

The Portage & District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Best Business Awards were held Oct. 20, 2011, at the William Glesby Centre in Portage. Among those honoured was RRC student Christina Trandifir, who picked up the Chamber’s Youth Volunteer of the Year Award for her ongoing work with a number of local organizations.

A first-year student in RRC’s Business Administration program, Trandifir (who’s completing her studies at the College’s Notre Dame Campus) played an instrumental role in the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation’s “Sharing Our World” event, and has also served as an in-school mentor for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Portage la Prairie, a Children’s Day volunteer at the Glesby Centre, and a volunteer for the MS Society of Manitoba’s annual MS Walk.

Coincidentally, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Portage was also honoured at the event, where it received the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community by a Business. The award was accepted by longtime executive director Dawn Froese, who is also an instructor at RRC’s Portage Campus, where she teaches courses in the Administrative Assistant and Business and Administrative Studies programs.

Click here for a full list of award winners.

Shown above: RRC instructor Dawn Froese (right), in her capacity as Executive Director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Portage la Prairie, with (from left) Earl Porter, Mayor of Portage; Ian Wishert, MLA for Portage; and Daniel Bolton, President of the Portage & District Chamber of Commerce