A Red River College student is encouraging Winnipeggers to go for a walk next weekend —to help fund a rainwater-harvesting project at a school in Tanzania.

Bronwyn Fenn, a second-year Creative Communications student at RRC, is the leading force behind the Winnipeg for Water 6K, a walk and fun-run taking place Sun., Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. at the North Kildonan Community Centre.

“I chose six kilometres because that’s the average distance women and children who live in areas with low access to water [have to] walk every day,” says Fenn, a Kildonan East Collegiate alum who first began raising funds for drought-stricken communities while in high school.

“All money raised is being combined with funds from Kildonan-East Collegiate, and will help build a rainwater harvesting project at Kiwasi Primary School in the Bunda district of Tanzania. The school is about four kilometres from a water source, which is shared with animals — so it’s not safe to drink.”

It’s Fenn’s hope that at least 100 participants will sign up for the walk, and that the event will raise enough money to build the same sort of rainwater harvesting system as the one provided to schools she visited in 2010, while fundraising on behalf of Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR). Read More →

They like her — they really like her!

Former journalist Joanne Kelly needn’t worry about her Q-rating having slipped since she traded her on-camera gig for the classroom a few years back.

The Red River College instructor was recently named “Favourite Prof” in the 2015 edition of The Uniter 30, an annual issue of the University of Winnipeg’s student newspaper determined entirely by reader votes.

Kelly — who actually beat a pair of UWinnipeg profs for the survey’s top spot — has a reputation for encouraging students to work outside of their comfort zones, one she first earned while serving as a frequent industry mentor at Shaw TV, and later cemented after joining RRC’s Creative Communications staff in 2011.

Kelly spent 15 years — at Shaw, CTV Winnipeg, and BCTV — showcasing everyday people and their stories, an approach she continues to adopt with first-year journalism students and those taking second-year broadcast and live TV courses.

Most notably, she’s been able to transform one of her passion projects at Shaw — a live telethon benefitting the Winnipeg Humane Society — into a successful enterprise for CreComm students, who now host, produce, script and shoot the entire event. (Last year, the telethon raised $72,000 and was named Best Remote – Special by the Broadcast Educators Association of Canada.)

In addition, the Live at Five broadcast led by Kelly and her teaching partner Forde Oliver has twice been named Best Student Broadcast by the BEAC, once in 2013 and again 2014.

A Red River College student has organized Winnipeg’s first-ever city-wide bake sale — bringing together 15 local schools to support educational efforts for young women in Kenya.

Proceeds from this Friday’s sale will go The Wasichana Fund, a local non-profit that provides sanitary napkins and health education to more than 500 young women in Nairobi, where on average, female students miss 20 per cent of their studies because they lack a safe and dignified means of managing menstruation.

In December, ambassadors from each of the local schools met at The Wasichana Workshop, a discussion organized by second-year Creative Communications student Alexandra Martin (shown above).

The workshop focused on barriers facing young women in developing countries and the economical, social and political importance of female education. After taking part, the local ambassadors returned to their own schools to spread the message, with this week’s bake sale serving as the final campaign push.

“It’s been rewarding to see these like-minded young women come together and practice skills they will use to be future leaders in our community,” Martin says. “The goal is for them to realize the significant impact they can have when working together.”

Since its inception, The Wasichana Fund has provided more than 50,000 sanitary pads and restored more than 256,000 hours of class time to young women in Kenya. A donation of just one dollar will provide a month’s supply of sanitary napkins for one student.

Click here to donate or for more information on The Wasichana Fund.

(Photo credit: Eva Wasney, Creative Communications)

An eye-opening new video project inspired by a pair of Red River College researchers is giving child and youth care professionals valuable insight into the experiences of at-risk children and teens.

Live My Life: See what it’s like is a raw, honest and thought-provoking documentary short focusing on the perspectives of four Manitoba youth who’ve lived the out-of-home group care experience.

The video places the voices of these youth at the core of the care experience, offering a unique look at what they value in caregivers, and their perspectives on best practices. It also challenges viewers to rethink current child welfare strategies, and to incorporate similar voices more readily into practice.

The project was inspired by the experiences and research of Dawne MacKay-Chiddenton and Diane Parris, both faculty members in RRC’s Child and Youth Care (CYC) program. As Mackay-Chiddenton explains, she and Parris have long understood the importance of listening to what youth in care have to say, but felt there was little opportunity for such voices to be heard in the existing child welfare system.

To help rectify the situation, they partnered with Just TV, a local organization that works with at-risk youth through the West Broadway Community Centre.

Based on data collected in focus groups and individual interviews, the partners produced the Live My Life video, giving those profiled a chance to comment on the skills, qualities and attributes that make child and youth care professionals effective.

Their stories — which involve heartbreaking accounts of broken homes, separated siblings, and unqualified foster parents — speak to a broader youth experience that’s often omitted from child welfare programming and delivery methods, say the pair. Read More →

Students from Red River College’s School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts served up a pre-holiday feast to guests at Siloam Mission today, preparing hundreds of turkey dinners donated by the Manitoba Turkey Producers and Granny’s Poultry Cooperative Ltd.

Under the guidance of Culinary Arts instructors Chef Scott Ball and Chef Gordon Bailey, students cooked and served approximately 18 turkeys (more than 400 pounds worth), along with traditional vegetable side dishes, sauces, gravy and dessert.

The students prepared the meals for approximately 600 Siloam guests, then served them alongside a host of local dignitaries, including Kevin Chief, Minister of Jobs and Economy, Mayor Brian Bowman (above, far right) and David Rew, Interim RRC President (above, second from right)

“The holiday season can be particularly hard on those in our community experiencing homelessness and poverty. They do not have the resources to enjoy a Christmas feast,” says Floyd Perras, Executive Director of Siloam Mission. “We are grateful to have these students share their skills and passion. Red River College, the Manitoba Turkey Producers, and Grannies are bridging the gap to build a stronger, more compassionate community here in Winnipeg’s inner city.” Read More →

Winnipeg’s rich photographic history is now more accessible than ever, thanks to collaboration between the city and students from Red River College’s Business Information Technology (BIT) program.

Winnipeg in FOCUS is a new web-based application that allows users to search and view photographs and other graphic materials held by the City of Winnipeg Archives. The web app is the product of a partnership between RRC, the city’s Archives, and the city’s Corporate IT department.

In January 2014, RRC students in the BIT Industry Project course began developing an app to improve access to the Archive’s collection of photos. Functional requirements were provided by the Archives; technical mentorship and design services were provided by Corporate IT.

Materials held by the Archives capture moments in the city’s development. Many were taken by civic employees in the course of their work documenting projects or program delivery, though the collection also includes individual photos and collections donated to the Archives.

“[They] have much to show us about ourselves, our government, and the history of the natural and built environment from 1974,” reads the city’s website. “These images are a powerful record of change and growth.”

Currently, Winnipeg in FOCUS includes only a fraction of the thousands of images in the Archive’s holdings, though content will be added as resources allow.

Click here to learn more about the initiative, or to search the database.

Above photo courtesy of the City of Winnipeg Archives: Winnipeg looking west from the tower of City Hall, September 5, 1900. Present site of Red River College’s Princess Street campus.

Red River College’s Disability and Community Support program and its Diversity and Intercultural Services department came together this week to raise awareness of the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

On Wed., Dec 3, students and staff gathered in the Library hallway at the Notre Dame Campus, where they offered passers-by holiday baking. Others fanned out across campus, distributing stickers and bookmarks with powerful messages.

The bookmarks were made to address how societal attitudes can present a barrier to those faced by people with disabilities in achieving full acceptance and integration in society. They offered ideas for appropriate and respectful language related to disabilities, while also addressing less respectful terminology.

“The goal of the event was to raise awareness about local issues such as Manitoba’s Accessibility legislation,” says Cheryl Martens, lead instructor of Disability and Community Support. “By connecting with the RRC community face-to-face, we hoped to focus on awareness on a local, global and personal level.” Read More →

Did you know that one out of two Canadians will be touched by a disability, either personally or within their immediate family?

Help Red River College reaffirm and draw attention to the rights of the more than one billion people throughout the world who are living with a disability. Join us at noon on Wed., Dec. 3, for a Disability Awareness Lunch Hour Blitz at the Notre Dame Campus, where you can visit a display in the library hallway, or chat with students from RRC’s Disability and Community Support program.

Did you know?

Internationally: More than one billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, are living with a disability. Canada is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which affirms that all people with disabilities have human rights and freedoms.

Locally: Manitoba has signed into law Bill 26, the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. This legislation ensures there is a plan to eliminate barriers that currently exist for 200,000 Manitobans with disabilities, allowing them to experience their human rights with the same expectations as other citizens.

Personally: Join us in taking a stand against the “R” word (retard), and “Spread the Word to End the Word”. Most people don’t think of this word as hate speech, but that’s exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as their families and friends. Make a personal pledge to remove this form of hate speech from our collective vocabularies.

Sponsored by the Disability and Community Support program and the Diversity and Intercultural Services department.

Already a model of the potential for success through partnerships with community organizations, Red River College stands to benefit even further from a new pilot project aimed at strengthening communities through social innovation research.

Announced today by the Hon. Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), the new Community and College Social Innovation Fund will increase colleges’ capacity to engage in collaborative projects with community organizations and businesses to address such social issues as poverty, crime prevention, community safety and economic development.

“Our government understands that local community organizations are essential in addressing social issues like economic development, poverty, education and integration in Canadian communities,” says Holder (shown above, fifth from left). “The Community and College Social Innovation Fund will connect the innovative talent of researchers and students at colleges and polytechnics to meet the research needs of local community organizations to build stronger, safer, healthier communities.”

Administered through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the fund allows colleges and polytechnics to partner with community organizations and businesses to apply for funding of up to $200,000 (plus an additional 20 per cent to offset overhead and administrative costs) to undertake collaborative projects that address community issues.

The new fund will provide $15 million over three years in support of social innovation projects, which could take the form of products, processes or programs that create positive social outcomes for communities.

“Social innovation requires breakthrough ideas, applied research and community collaboration,” says David Rew, Interim President of RRC. “We welcome the government’s recognition that colleges like RRC are instrumental in making meaningful contributions to advancing solutions to issues that face communities, not only in Manitoba, but [throughout the globe].” Read More →

This week, Red River College joins the growing number of individuals and organizations across Canada taking steps to cut waste and improve the environment.

From Oct. 20-24, RRC will mark Waste Reduction Week with a series of initiatives aimed at encouraging the College community to rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle — whether on campus or at home.

Waste reduction is a year-round effort at RRC, where each month we collect and recycle over nine tonnes of paper, food and beverage containers and cardboard. The diversion rate at RRC is over 50% — an impressive figure, considering Winnipeg’s residential diversion rate is only about 28%.

Here are three ways you can get involved: Read More →