News

Each year, Red River College awards a Red River College Honorary Diploma to an individual who demonstrates high standards of excellence in their personal and professional achievements, and whose involvement in the community is widely recognized.

Known and respected throughout Canada for her wisdom, gentle spirit and tireless dedication to the community, Stella Blackbird has a special ability to build trust and understanding across cultures and nations.

An Elder and Red Eagle Woman from the Turtle Clan, Stella has served as an Elder, Traditional Healer, Medicine Teacher and facilitator for healing programs and teachings across Canada and the U.S. She has devoted years to the women of Keeseekoowenin First Nation (where she resides), and to women and men in neighbouring First Nations communities, providing counselling and healing and leading traditional ceremonies. Stella also provides teachings at Medicine Eagle Camp, which she helped establish on the sacred ceremonial grounds of the ancestors near Riding Mountain National Park.

Stella has a vast knowledge of traditional medicines, which she shares with those from all nations and backgrounds. Earlier in her career, she served as Resident Elder for the Ontario Native Education Counselor Association in Sudbury, and provided health services for the Ojibway Tribal Family Services Sacred Circle in Kenora. She also served for years in the Third Canada Rangers of the Canadian Armed Forces, providing traditional teachings and survival skills to youth and adults at Camp Borden. Read More →

Graduates of RRC’s Youth Recreation Activity Worker program gathered to celebrate their achievements last Friday, at a special event held to showcase their contributions to the community.

On Friday, June 7, the program’s graduating class met at RRC’s Roblin Centre to pay tribute to each others’ achievements, and to mark the College’s 12th year of making a difference in the lives of inner city youth.

“Congratulations to all of the Youth Recreation Activity Worker program graduates,” said lead instructor Kerry Coulter. “You have already affected the lives of so many youth in a positive way and I know you will continue to have a huge impact in our community and with each individual child you are yet to meet.”

The program, which trains participants to work with inner city youth, was launched in response to increased demand for drop-in programming at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg. Building on existing materials from RRC’s Child and Youth Care program, the College developed a 10-month certificate program to train a new generation of young adults to serve as recreational leaders.

Graduates of the program, many of whom face socio-economic barriers themselves, often go on to find jobs with Boys and Girls Clubs and other inner city youth agencies, or as childhood educators and teachers’ aides.

Last week’s event was attended by a number of politicians and community leaders, including Mayor Sam Katz, Premier Greg Selinger, and Boys and Girls Clubs President Ron Brown.

Click here to learn more about the program, which is open to students aged 18 to 29.

A heartfelt thank-you — and an equally heartfelt congratulations — to everyone who took part in Red River College’s entry in the 2013 Pride Winnipeg Parade on June 2.

Approximately 60 students and staff members, together with friends and family, donned bright red RRC t-shirts while walking the parade route in support of Manitoba’s LGBTT community.

As a result of their enthusiasm (and possibly all the free frisbees they handed out!), Red River College won the “Best Walking Group” award from Pride Parade organizers.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the event.

Staff from Red River College took part in a pair of day-long workshops this week, to learn more about how Google technologies can support teaching and learning.

The Google Workshop for Educators sessions took place June 4 and 5, and focused on such Google Apps tools as Google+, Google Hangouts, Google Power Searching, Google Docs/Drive, Forms and Presentations, and Bloggers.

About 25 RRC staff took part in the June 5 workshop, which was hosted by Michael Wacker, a Google Certified Teacher and Certified Google Apps Trainer. The June 4 workshop was for external attendees — kindergarten to Grade 12 teachers from across Manitoba.

Participants will be expected to share their knowledge as mentors within their departments and to act as liaisons for training and support with the Centre for Teaching Excellence, Innovation and Research (TEIR).

RRC’s International Education office hosted a delegation from Germany on Thursday — the second such group to visit the College this week.

The delegation was comprised of four representatives from Germany’s Ministry of Education, who were here to learn how RRC delivers training in vocational fields relating to Automotive and Biogas Technologies.

Members also visited local high school, colleges, Manitoba Hydro facilities, and a farm that utilizes biogas technologies.

Earlier this week, the College played host to a delegation from Finland. That group was comprised of instructors and administrators from five Finnish colleges, and included representation from the fields of Vehicle Technology and Information Communication Technology, Student Guidance and Counselling, and International Affairs.

From left: Dental Assisting grads Chelsea Bezditny, Katharina Seibel, Kaitlyn Bezditny, Jillian O’Donnell and Lee-Anne Sabourin.

Dental Assisting graduates from Red River College’s Winkler Campus are gearing up for a summer trip to Guatemala, where they’ll provide free clinical care for local residents in five different locations.

As part of their fifth annual summer mission to the region, five recent RRC grads (now registered dental assistants), as well as a dentist, a dental therapist, and a dental instructor from the College, will provide free dental care to approximately 2,540 Guatemalans — double the number they provided care for during their last trip in 2012.

This year’s team will spend a day and a half attending to locals at San Marcos Church, before travelling to Nuevo Chuatuj, La Felicidad and San Martin Chile Verde in subsequent days. The trip takes place June 30 to July 10; students have been fundraising for months to offset their travel costs.

“Past team members have personally gained a lot from their experiences, and feel blessed by having worked with the people they encountered,” says Athena Wilford, Dental Assisting Coordinator at Winkler Campus. “In spite of poverty and meagre living conditions, the people we met were very gracious.” Read More →

Red River College is pleased to welcome a delegation from Finland, whose members are visiting Winnipeg to discuss possible international partnerships.

The delegation is comprised of instructors and administrators from five Finnish colleges, and includes representation from the fields of Vehicle Technology and Information Communication Technology, Student Guidance and Counselling, and International Affairs.

The visitors are in Winnipeg until Thursday to establish relationships with RRC, and to explore new possibilities for faculty, staff and student exchanges between the respective institutions. While in town, delegates will shadow instructors from RRC’s Automotive and Information Communication Technology programs, visit the educational fields they represent, and give presentations on their work in Finland.

Advertising students from Red River College’s Creative Communications program will pick up five national awards next month, when they head to Toronto to receive cash prizes for their work promoting Canadian charities.

Sponsored by Imagine Canada and Alberta’s Muttart Foundation, the Students Verb Charities contest rewards exceptional promotional campaigns exploring how charities ensure, improve and reflect our quality of life. A total of $100,000 is up for grabs next month, and with five out of a possible six awards going to RRC students, the odds are clearly in their favour.

Working in teams of two to four people, the RRC advertising majors developed creative concepts and videos, for which they’ll receive awards ranging from $2,500 to $50,000. They’ll travel to Toronto next month with their instructors; the Muttart Foundation is covering the students’ travel expenses, as well as putting up the prize money.

In other CreComm news, student Terry Proveda picked up the Best Film and Best Documentary awards for his video Going to Extremes at last week’s University of Winnipeg’s 2013 Student Film Festival, while classmates Katy Slimmon, Owen Swinn and Brian Wrede picked up Best Editing honours for their documentary Living in Harmony, about a local Hutterite colony.

As well, this year’s Broadcast Journalism class won first place in the Video Studio Newscast category at this year’s Broadcast Educators Association of Canada (BEAC) National Student Awards. That award will be handed out this weekend as part of the BEAC Annual Conference in Banff. Click here to view the winning newscast.

Culinary student Randy Grieg, who won a gold medal at last month’s Skills Manitoba Competition.

Congratulations to the 48 Red River College students who won medals at last month’s Skills Manitoba Competition, many of whom will go on to represent the province at the national contest in Vancouver next month.

The 16th annual Olympic-style competition was held April 11 at RRC’s Notre Dame Campus, with students competing in 40 different categories aimed at showcasing their hands-on expertise, talent and determination in a variety of skilled trades and technologies.

RRC students swept the podium in 13 different categories, and earned medals in six more. Those who won gold medals who will go on to compete as Team Manitoba at the 19th Skills Canada National Competition in Vancouver, June 5-8.

More than 500 students from across Manitoba took part in the provincial trials. See below for a full list of RRC winners. Read More →

Linley James (second from right), with Christine Crowe (Vice-President, Community Development, RRC), Tom Trottier (RRC Recycling Team), and Lori Walkow (RRC Student Services and Community Development Services)

The purchasing agent for RRC’s Paterson GlobalFoods Institute has been recognized for his role in supporting those with intellectual disabilities as they find and maintain meaningful employment in the community.

RRC staffer Linley James received the “Outstanding Natural Support” award at this week’s Sweet Success 2013 reception, hosted by Connect Employment Services to honour the achievements of Connect clients and supports over the past year.

In his prior role as Supervisor of Campus Services at the Roblin Centre in the Exchange District, James worked closely with members of RRC’s Recycling Team, supporting them in their day-to-day tasks and researching products and equipment used in the course of their duties.

The Sweet Success reception, held Thursday at the University of Manitoba, included a dessert-tasting and auction, and was attended by the Rt. Hon. Ed Schreyer, former Manitoba premier and governor general of Canada. The event was presented by Connect Employment Services and the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.