Communications

Stories can capture your attention, strengthen, or challenge your perspective, and inspire you to take action. This past year, the Alumni Association had the privilege of sharing many powerful ones through our alumni features, which were published on the BCIT News blog and shared through our social media channels and website. In 2021/22, we shone a light on alumni who overcame enormous challenges on the road to success, are using technology to protect their communities, and are motivating future generations of BCIT graduates. Read all our alumni stories: bcit.ca/news

INDIGENOUS RED SEAL MACHINIST CHELSEA BARRON IS FORGING HER OWN PATH

Chelsea Barron has an angel. Her name was Angelina. She hunted on horseback, and was a residential school survivor and fierce mother of nine children. Angelina was Chelsea’s grandmother and is a driving inspiration in her life.

Like her grandmother before her, Chelsea is forging her own unique path. A member of the Tsilhqot’in (Chilcotin) Nation, the BCIT alumna is now a Red Seal Machinist and one of few women working in a male-dominated trade. She says the leading-edge skills she learned as a student in the BCIT Machinist program helped prepare her to succeed: “You don’t often see many women in the machining industry. Being singled out as different, as a minority, a woman, an Indigenous person…it’s tough. You have to prove you belong.” ∆

JUSTIN PERRY MITIGATES BC WILDFIRES USING DRONE TECHNOLOGY

What started out as a passion for aviation and forestry ended up leading BCIT alumnus Justin Perry to his dream job. As Chief Drone Pilot with Stinson Aerial Services Inc., he detected wildfires using infrared sensing technology during last summer’s intense fire season in BC. Justin’s role as a drone pilot was the perfect opportunity to combine the skills he learned in the BCIT Forest and Natural Areas Management Diploma program and his interest in drone technology.

Outside of mitigating wildfires and pushing his own limits to grow, Justin finds value in giving back to youth in the Indigenous community through drone training as a way to empower them. Drone technology can be used to collect high-resolution remote sensing data of lands and waters, which Indigenous youth can utilize for land management purposes in their communities. ∆

FIRST-EVER BCIT ALUMNI WELCOME VIDEO

This year, we launched our first-ever BCIT Alumni Association Welcome Video. Debuting at our 2021 Virtual AGM, the 50-second video welcomes alumni to the Alumni Association and our many exclusive benefits and opportunities. The upbeat video is featured on our website, the BCIT Youtube channel, and our social media channels. Watch the video: bcit.ca/alumni ∆

Opposite: Red Seal Machinist Chelsea Barron Top: Chief Drone Pilot Justin Perry Bottom: Ken (l) and George Garrett

HOW A BCIT ALUM’S TRAGEDY INSPIRED 35 YEARS OF GENEROSITY SUPPORTING BCIT BROADCAST STUDENTS

In 1975 when he was 15 years old, Ken Garrett got his first big break in radio on CJAT-AM, calling himself “Super Kid”. His on-air personality would not only jump-start this BCIT Broadcast alum’s passion for broadcasting but also foreshadow his real-life heroism in a tragedy that cost him his life nearly 15 years later. Fast forward to May 1987, when Ken, now a successful radio station manager, and his girlfriend had just got engaged. To celebrate, the couple set out on a local lake when overpowering winds suddenly flipped their canoe. Ken repeatedly pushed Shelley onto the overturned canoe, ultimately saving her life. Ken, who had been in the frigid water too long, did not survive.

The devastating loss shattered the Garrett family but also inspired Ken’s father George to contribute to a BCIT endowment funding awards for BCIT Broadcast students. Now 87 years old, George has contributed faithfully to the Ken Garrett Memorial Award endowment in his son’s memory for the past 35 years. By 2021, the endowment had disbursed more than $13,000 in awards to 26 BCIT Broadcast students. ∆