Red River College’s Student Services department will host an informational fair in the library hallway (mall level) of the Notre Dame Campus on Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Students are encouraged to come by to learn more about the services and supports available to them. They can also enter their names in draws for great prizes — just for stopping by the tables.

Representatives will be on hand from RRC’s Academic Success Centre, Student Employment Services, Counselling & Accessibility Services, Academic Advising, Recreation Services, Health Services, International Education, Indigenous Education, Diversity & Immigrant Student Support Services, and the Red River College Students’ Association.

A classic car built by Red River College students has helped to raise over $60,000 in support of young Manitoba residents pursuing training and accreditation in the area of skilled trades and technology.

The car, a replica 1933 Modified Ford, will be raffled off this week as part of a fundraiser launched through a partnership between Skills Canada Manitoba and the College. It was built from a kit purchased by Skills Manitoba, and assembled by more than 100 RRC students and apprentices in a number of trades and technology programs, including Automotive Pre-Employment, Automotive and Motorvehicle Apprenticeship, and Collision Repair and Refinishing.

Students and apprentices worked under the supervision of instructors from the College, putting their theoretical skills into practice by taking the car from its bare bones early stage to road-worthy completion

“The significance of this car is huge for us,” says Neil Cooke, chair of Transportation, Math and Sciences at RRC. “Students can apply the skills they have mastered, but more importantly they take pride and ownership in the vehicle.”

The car’s new owner will be drawn at 6 p.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 18, during a reception at RRC’s Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre. Read More →

This Monday, graduates from Red River College’s Hospitality and Culinary Arts programs will help to serve a trial run of the dinner that will represent Canada at the Culinary Olympics in October.

The grads, now members of the Junior Chefs of Winnipeg, will team up with members of Canada’s Junior National Culinary Team to prepare the seven-course dinner that will hopefully carry Youth Team Canada to the podium at this year’s Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany.

The event takes place Monday, Sept. 10, at Prairie Lights Restaurant on the lower level of RRC’s Notre Dame Campus. Tickets are sold out.

Join us at the Exchange District Campus next Thursday, Sept. 6, as we celebrate the launch of Changing People’s Lives: An Illustrated History of Red River College.

Written by former RRC Dean Dave Williamson, Changing People’s Lives traces the College’s development from a small industrial training centre in the 1930s to one of Canada’s leading institutes of applied learning.

Along the way, Williamson (shown in grey, with RRC Board member Don Robertson) shares stories and photos of the many important people and projects that have driven the College’s growth.

Changing People’s Lives is available now for $34.95 from RRC’s Bookstores, at both the Notre Dame and Exchange District Campuses.

Date: Thu., Sept. 6, 2012
Time: 6pm – 7:30pm
Location: Roblin Centre Atrium, 160 Princess Street

Join the event page on Facebook.

Photo by Mike Deal, Winnipeg Free Press.

A Red River College instructor is one of two local artists paying tribute to the importance of libraries via a newly-unveiled public installation.

Darren Stebeleski, who teaches Graphic Design at RRC, is the visionary behind Sentinel of Truth, a public sculpture installation at Millennium Library Park that acts as a monument to libraries as defenders of freedom of speech.

The installation features text excerpts from 18 books — many by authors whose words have been censored or silenced — that are etched into recessed stainless steel panels set into a 50-metre steel wall.

“As a society, our ideas and our truths are ever fragile, open to corruption and attack through censorship,” says Stebeleski of the work. “The existence of a free and open library guarantees their safety and their dissemination.”

“Our stories are more than diversion; they are reflections of ourselves, explaining our lives to us. And our libraries are more than buildings that house books; they are unflagging shields protecting armouries of fearless truth. We must never fail to watch over them, as they watch over us.”

According to Alison Gillmor, arts columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, “Stebeleski references the power and palpable physicality of books by using the solidity of steel. But he is also aware of the fragility of free speech … With its changing nature, Sentinel reminds us that we can’t take reading for granted.”

Stebeleski’s work is part of the Winnipeg Arts Council’s public arts initiative, as is its accompanying installation — emptyful, by Vancouver artist/architect Bill Pechet. Both works were unveiled during a public opening on Aug. 15, 2012.

Click here for more information about Sentinel of Truth.

Planning to hit the Winnipeg Fringe Festival this summer? Be sure to check out Run Ragged Company’s Daves of Their Lives, written and directed by Red River College’s own Dale Watts.

The hour-long soap opera spoof finds a formerly-successful but mentally exhausted businessmen — stuck in a loveless marriage with a menopausal wife, exploited by his stepmother and manipulated by his daughter and deceased dad — finding a second chance for happiness when a sultry young woman enters his life.

Daves of Their Lives marks the latest Fringe entry by festival regular Watts, Dean of Industrial Technologies at RRC. The show is being staged at Venue #2 (MTC Up the Alley), with performances on:

• Wed., July 18 (8:45 p.m.)
• Fri., July 20 (5:45 p.m.)
• Sun., July 22 (3:15 p.m.)
• Mon, July 23 (9 p.m.)
• Wed., July 25 (2 p.m.)
• Fri., July 27 (12:15 p.m.)
• Sat., July 28 (7:30 p.m.)

Tickets are $9 ($8 for students and seniors); click here for more information.

National Aboriginal Day is held annually on June 21 to celebrate First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada. As Red River College President Stephanie Forsyth points out, we have much to learn about the rich culture and traditions of the people who first walked this land, and National Aboriginal Day provides an opportunity to engage in this learning in an enjoyable and festive environment.

On June 21, an episode of the CBC series 8th Fire will be shown in The Cave at the Notre Dame Campus from noon to 1:00pm. RRC will also host an exhibitor booth at the Indian Métis Friendship Centre (45 Robinson St.) from 10:00am to 4:00pm, while tours of the College’s Mobile Training Lab will be held from 11:00am to 2:00pm at 519 Selkirk Avenue, in the parking lot of the Urban Circle Training Centre.

On June 23, RRC Culinary Arts instructors Tom Pitt, Karl Oman and Chantalle Noschese will again participate in APTN’s Aboriginal Day Live festivities at The Forks. The team will contribute to the event’s cultural component by serving Aboriginal menu items starting at noon. Aboriginal Liaison/Advisor Jaime Richard and Graham Thomson, Dean of Business & Applied Arts, will also be at The Forks promoting RRC programs, supports and services. Read More →

Red River College will host its second annual free Car & Heavy Truck Show on Wednesday, June 20th from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Notre Dame Campus.

Several classic, sports and high-performance cars and trucks will be on display, along with an exhibit of vehicles powered by alternate fuels and electricity. Highlights include:

• The new 100% electric zero emission Nissan Leaf car
• RRC’s Electric Motorcycle
• A chance to ride Manitoba’s Electric Bus prototype
• See what it’s like behind the wheel of a big rig with the Bison Truck Cab Simulator
• A biodiesel production demonstration
• Food vendors on site

The show is also free for auto enthusiasts who want to show off their vehicles, and the first 100 registered exhibitors will also get a free meal. Awards will be presented in both the car and truck categories. See rrc.ca/cartruckshow2012 to register.

Entrance to the show will be off Route 90 on the northeast side of the campus, just north of Notre Dame. Signs will mark the entrance and parking location. The show goes ahead rain or shine.

(From left): Janet Jamieson, Chair of RRC's Community Services department; Eleanor Thompson, Urban Circle's Executive Director; RRC President Stephanie Forsyth; and Louise Gordon, Dean of RRC's School of Health Sciences and Community Services.

Last week marked the grand opening of another new addition to the Selkirk Avenue landscape — one that brings training and childcare opportunities to Winnipeg’s inner city, while celebrating the wisdom of the neighbourhood’s elders.

Launched through a partnership between the Urban Circle Training Centre, Red River Colllege, and the University of Manitoba’s Inner-city Campus, the newly-opened Makoonsag Intergenerational Children’s Centre serves as the College’s first demonstration childcare centre, and represents its commitment to providing community residents with increased access to programs promoting child and family supports.

Read More →

Students and staff from Red River College marched in the 2012 Pride Winnipeg Parade over the weekend, as a means of showing support for the local LGBTT* community and of celebrating diversity in all walks of life.

A contingent of more than 60 RRC representatives joined the throngs of supporters at the Legislature for an opening rally attended by Manitoba Justice Minister Andrew Swan and parade co-marshals (and longtime local activists) Chris Vogel and Richard North.

From there, they joined the thousands of parade participants — many of them sporting eye-popping costumes and rainbow flags of all sizes — as they made their way through the streets surrounding Memorial Park.

The College’s presence in the parade marked the first time RRC has taken part in Pride Winnipeg festivities. This year’s entry was an extension of RRC’s LGBTT* Initiative, which provides educational opportunities and resources to build communication, understanding and respect for diversity throughout the College.

“Red River College is committed to building a strong relationship with our community, and supports efforts that contribute to a more inclusive and respectful society,” says Nora Sobel, Diversity Initiatives Coordinator at RRC. “We were proud to be participating for the first time in the Pride Winnipeg Parade, where students, instructors, staff, family and friends showed our College’s support for the LGBTT* community!”