Donor Impact Report: BUILDING A LEGACY
Each fall, a generation of students come together on campus to begin their studies. Excited, energized and ready for new experiences. Each class is intrinsically linked to the one before it, spanning back to the beginning of Lakeland itself.
As we expanded our program offerings, becoming more than our agricultural roots, building on the legacy of the years behind us became an overarching philosophy, a foundation that Lakeland College is build on. It’s a legacy of over 100 years spent building on the successes achieved each year before, on our farm, in our science and trades labs, in our salon, our spa, classrooms, and our Emergency Training Centre.
You are an essential part of that legacy. From the broad strokes that make up Lakeland College – our campuses, our learning spaces, our labs, and residences – to each tiny detail and personal student experience, Lakeland exists because of you and the generosity of donors like you.
We offer our students a world-class education, the mental, physical, and financial supports they need to succeed, and a place to belong. And every piece of that Lakeland experience has been immeasurably impacted by your support.
Thank you for helping us create a future for the next generations of Lakeland to continue to build together.
LEGACY: MEAD’S WALL
In September 2022, we celebrated the grand re-opening of our rejuvenated WHT Mead Building on Vermilion campus. The 35,214 sq. ft. building is a unique blend of technological sophistication and agricultural tradition. It’s the academic hub of our agricultural sciences programs.
Part of the celebration included the unveiling of the legacy wall, a permanent display to honour our donors and our connection to the agricultural history of the region. The wall is made up of personalized tiles running along the western edge of the building, overlooking a wall of windows facing into the quad.
Each tile represents a donation of $1913 and is marked with the donor family’s livestock brand or image. They honour the pride and deep roots of our alumni, families, farms and ranches that are the backbone of our region.
Donations to the legacy wall support the Agricultural Sciences Department and the WHT Mead Building. We are so pleased to recognize the support our community has always offered agricultural sciences.
$103,590 Alumni donations
531 Number of donors
79 Number of alumni donors
751 Number of donations
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Our supportive campus atmosphere is an important part of the Lakeland experience. Students come to us knowing that we have an award-winning network of mental, academic, physical, and financial supports in place to help them succeed.
Your support ensures our students receive the assistance they need to excel. And because of you, they have been breaking records and winning provincial and national accolades.
“We track student success rates,” says faculty member Andre Workman. He is one of the instructors who helped lead the 4th Class process and power engineering students to a 100 per cent success rate on the ABSA provincial exam for the first time in Lakeland’s history this past fall. “We are able to catch students who are falling behind and recommend them for supports available at the school. Students’ reactions to Lakeland’s student supports have been very positive. Many may not have approached education that way before, and our supports help them develop the study habits and skills they need to retain the information they need for longer.”
Those supports include tutoring, wellness, counseling, and accessibility services, as well as others in supporting roles.
Annette Donnenworth, a power engineering student, says, “If you’re a mature or returning student like me, the student support services are so helpful. I’ve gotten extra help – most of the girls in my class have as well. We’ve gone to Karen Harris, the Learner Strategist, and everyone has really benefitted from it. It’s such a valuable resource. Karen just brings such a positive
atmosphere and a positive feeling that empowers you. Any of the girls who went to her, they came back more confident, like they had an extra steppingstone.”
Foundational Learning is an important program geared towards helping students facing many barriers return to the classroom. It includes academic upgrading, administrative professional courses, and programs to assist in earning a high school diploma.
Students come to this program with varied levels of education, support and confidence. Thanks to you, we are able to empower these students and provide the tangible items that help eliminated barriers to student success. This can include taxi vouchers, gift cards for food and basic needs, access to technology and other things which may have prevented them from focusing on their education. For some students, this could potentially be the first time they have ever had support like this. It is life changing.
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SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS
2022-23 was one for the history books. Students excelled in every possible way, and we were so proud to celebrate alongside them. None of that would have been possible without your support.
199 Wellness sessions
Learner success clients
1376 Counselling appointments
712 Accommodation advising sessions
I have always been passionate about helping others. I take a lot of pride in my ability to show empathy and being an advocate for those who need it. I want to help teach resilience to those who have experienced hard times. Through my own personal experiences, and work opportunities, I have been able to learn these skills for myself. My goal is to finish my Bachelor of Social Work and hopefully get back into the school system as a counselor. I am truly grateful for this bursary. This bursary will help relieve financial stress for my two daughters and me. It helps me to focus on my studies and the additional school supplies I will need for the upcoming semester. Thank you for your support.”
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Melissa Cross University Transfer, pursuing a degree in social work. Recipient of the Petroleum Engineers –Lloydminster Section bursary
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And so many of them found that success, made possible by your generosity.
Our women’s volleyball won provincial and national gold. Mixed curling won provincial gold. Men’s futsal and women’s hockey won provincial bronze. On top of the team’s successes, we had numerous student-athletes receive provincial and national individual awards for their accomplishments. Our women’s volleyball head coach received the award as the top women’s volleyball coach in Canada.
Being a Rustler is about more than what happens in the competition, however. It’s also about finding success in the classroom and community, and our Rustlers achieved that as well. Our Rustlers contributed more than 5,000 hours of service in the community.
Thank you for being an essential part of our success, both home and away.
CELEBRATING LAKELAND RUSTLERS AT HOME AND AWAY 6 � Lakeland College
This year was one of the most successful years in Rustlers’ history and that success would not have been possible without you. Through both cash and in-kind donations to our Adopt a Rustler program and your donations to athletics, we were able to financially assist more than 150 student-athletes on their quest for success on the fields, pitches, rinks and courts this academic year.
$47,141
Total funds raised from the 2022 Rustlers Golf Tournament
Feasting for student-led learning
Student-led learning is a cornerstone of what we do at Lakeland and we could not do it without you.
Feast on the Farm is an energetic evening outdoors on our Vermilion campus, where donors and supporters come together to raise funds that directly impact student-led learning initiatives. In 2022, Feast on the Farm presented by Cenovus Energy exceeded all our expectations, raising more than $78,000.
Students are given the opportunity to pitch their project ideas to receive portions of that funding. The funds raised from Feast on the Farm support every school at Lakeland. Students get the opportunity to share their ideas as to how their school could use the funds. Your gifts have allowed us to support educational trips to Mexico, a natural playscape playground, lab equipment for our trades department, an enhancement to our science lab and the replacement of building in our bin yard.
Jodie McWatters, a crop technology student, was involved in pitching, sourcing, and replacing the farm’s grain shed in 2022.
“I’m honestly so proud of this, it’s my favourite project I’ve gotten to work on this year,” she said. “I’m a quiet person, so it was definitely out of my comfort zone to lead a group to get this project done, to see it go from scratches on paper made in the back of a truck to something that’s actually standing on the farm. It was a bit of a bonding experience for us. It’s good to be building this for future generations of students. Next year’s students can use it to build on their knowledge as they leave their own mark on the farm.”
“It’s nice to see donors putting funds like this towards us to benefit our education but also our learning experiences, which we can take back home with us,” she added. “We get to pursue something that builds the farm up, along with using our knowledge and building new skills at the same time.”
Current projects underway that are funded by our donors at Feast on the Farm include a new maternity pen for The Red Barn, a modernization of the control room in the power engineering lab, digital stations in our automotive lab, wildlife data collection and more.
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