Animal Health Technology grads Mary Robinson (left) and Tannis Rentz, with furry friends Aspen, Willow and Capone.

Red River College grad Tannis Rentz (Animal Health Technology, 2002) has been providing aid to people’s pets for more than 10 years now — ever since she began volunteering at the Transcona Veterinary Hospital as a teen.

But in April 2013, Rentz and fellow AHT grad Mary Robinson (2011) will travel a little further afield to help the tens of thousands of sick or malnourished dogs crowding the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal.

Rentz and Robinson are headed to Nepal’s KAT Centre, a not-for-profit treatment centre for sick and injured street dogs. As Rentz explains, there are currently more than 20,000 dogs living on the streets of Kathmandu — many of them infected with rabies and other communicable diseases that pose a threat to their human counterparts.

“And of course they’re constantly reproducing, because none of them are spayed or neutered,” says Rentz, who over the last 10 years has worked her way from a clinical position at the Winnipeg Animal Emergency Clinic to an administrative role with the Petsecure arm of the Western Financial Insurance Company.

“Initially, the government there thought it would be a good idea to terminate these dogs by throwing poisoned meat into the streets. But then they’d dispose of the poisoned bodies by throwing them into their water supply, which just made things even worse.” Read More →

Members of RRC’s Plane Pull 2011 team.

Red River College is proud to play host to United Way Winnipeg’s ninth annual Plane Pull.

The event, taking place Friday, Sept. 21, at RRC’s Stevenson Campus, will draw more than 40 workplace teams, whose members will attempt to pull either a 191,000-lb Boeing 727 or a 90,000-lb DC-10. Red River College will have teams competing in the Plane Pull, so feel free to show your support!

The competition gets underway at 11a.m., following the announcement of this year’s fundraising goal by United Way Campaign Chair Doug Finkbeiner.

Click here for more information on Plane Pull 2012.

Red River College’s Cultural and Language Mentor Program has extended the deadline for student, staff and faculty volunteers interested in mentoring an immigrant or international student.

The Mentor Program is a local/global partnership that pairs immigrant and international students with Canadian-raised students and staff for friendship, English language practice and cross-cultural exchanges.

The program helps immigrant and international students adjust to life in Canada, make friends with other Canadians, improve their English and cross-cultural communication skills, and develop the skills required for success in their studies and in the workplace.

Participating mentors, meanwhile, get the chance to make new friends while gaining valuable experience working with culturally diverse individuals and preparing them for success in a global work environment.

Applications are being accepted until Friday, Sept. 28. Click here to fill out an online application.

The program requires a 10-hour commitment over the Fall semester, which includes a one-hour orientation meeting, plus seven hours of meeting time with their partner. Mentors receive support, guidance, and — best of all — tickets to local events and activities.

Click here to see a video about the program. For more information, contact Jacqueline Wood, Mentor Program Coordinator, at 204-632-3847.

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.

Creative Communications instructor Dan Vadeboncoeur
(Photo: Bernice Pontanilla/Metro Winnipeg)

Creative Communications students from Red River College took to the airwaves this week, to debut an online radio station that allows them to embrace new broadcasting technology.

The newly-launched Red River Radio provides CreComm (and other current RRC) students with production, programming and on-air training opportunities, while filling the void left when former campus station KICK-FM folded earlier this year.

The new streaming station will adhere to a similar format as KICK-FM — offering both news/talk and musical programming — and will continue to serve as a valuable showcase for local folk and indie-rock acts.

“We want to offer our students the chance to have everything they had at KICK-FM,” CreComm instructor Dan Vadeboncoeur (shown above) told Metro Winnipeg this week. “We’ve gone from over the airwaves to the biggest medium in the world.”

Vadeboncoeur and other CreComm instructors are currently fielding pitches from students before settling on a programming schedule. Any current RRC student — regardless of program of study — can pitch an idea for a show.

To listen online, visit radio.rrc.ca. Students interested in hosting a show on Red River Radio can contact Vadeboncoeur at dvadeboncoeur@rrc.ca.

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.

Red River College’s Rebels Athletics program is pleased to welcome the following new recruits to the men’s volleyball team:

Brad Angus – 6’ 4” Outside Hitter
Angus joins Red River after competing in the 2011-2012 season with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen. Prior to joining the Wesmen, he captured a silver medal as a member of the 2011 Western Canada Games team. Angus is a graduate of Dakota Collegiate, where his team was named the 2010 AAAA Provincial Champions.

Zach Duncan – 6’6” Middle/Outside Hitter
Duncan competed in the 2010-2011 season with the University of Manitoba Bisons. Prior to joining the Bisons he was a gold medalist at both the 2010 18U Provincial and National Championships. He was also the co-captain of his Miles MacDonnell Collegiate team that reached the AAAA Provincial Final Four. Duncan was named a Volleyball Manitoba Graduating All-Star, and also selected to the All Manitoba Team in 2009.

Erik Hansen – 6’ 7” Middle
Hansen will be rejoining the Rebels after taking a year off from competition. He was a member of the team from 2008-2011, contributing in 3 undefeated seasons and capturing 3 consecutive MCAC Championships. During this time Hansen was also twice named to the MCAC All-Conference team.

Mitchell Hendry – 5’ 10” Outside Hitter/Libero
Hendry is coming off a very successful 2012 18U club season with the 204 Volleyball Club, where he was coached by Dan Gilbert — also head coach of the Rebels men’s team. He was a gold medalist at the Provincial Championships and a silver medalist at the National Championships. Hendry is a graduate of MBCI, where he helped his team to a AAAA Provincial Final Four appearance.

Kyle Kasdorf – 6’ 5” Middle
Kasdorf was a teammate of Hendry with the 204 Volleyball Club, where he was a gold medalist at the 18U Provincial Championships and a silver medalist at the 18U National Championships. In addition to being named a Volleyball Manitoba Graduating All-Star, Kasdorf also received the Stefan Savoie Memorial Scholarship.

“I’m very excited with our new recruits for the 2012-13 volleyball season,” says Gilbert, noting the team is on the verge of adding two talented and experienced former university players to its roster.

“We will also be using the summer to evaluate a large number of prospective athletes who have expressed an interest in joining our team. I believe all this new talent, combined with our returning veterans, will result in the strongest team in my five seasons coaching with the RRC program.”

Gilbert and members of the men’s volleyball team will hit the court in late August to host skills camps for youth in grade 6-12. Cost of the week-long camps is $120 and registration closes on August 13.

Congratulations to RRC student Tannis CochraneCook (Computer Applications for Business, Peguis-Fisher River Campus), whose efforts to set up a recycling program at Peguis First Nation have earned her a 2012 Spirit of the Earth Award from Manitoba Hydro.

CochraneCook first began advocating for environmentally-safe waste disposal practices while volunteering at the Peguis Landfill site in 2009. (Her motivation was simple: The landfill was located next to her home, and owners were burning materials rather than recycling them.)

She’s since launched a community-wide recycling program at Peguis, for which now serves as Project Coordinator. In just two years, the program has proven so popular that an estimated 25% of businesses and residents on the reserve now recycle on a regular basis. Read More →