Wider Horizons - Spring 2010

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Spring 2010

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A PUBLICATION OF LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE

KEEPING SENIORS

ACTIVE

10-SECOND KIDS KIDS –– P.6 P.6 NURSING NURSING STAR STAR –– P.12 P.12 DISTINGUISHED DISTINGUISHED ALUMS ALUMS –– P.22 P.22 10-SECOND

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President’s Message How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. - Anne Frank Despite her years – or perhaps because of her youthful naivety – the brave young lady quoted above saw beyond her desperate circumstances to distill into a few words a wonderfully uncomplicated call to action for us all.

Many of the grads leaving Lethbridge College this month are entering chosen fields that incorporate the spirit of Anne Frank’s words, careers we celebrate in this issue. They are among those who have made a decision to wait not a single moment longer before improving their communities and the lives they will touch in the decades waiting before them.

The careers I speak of are easy to spot. Nursing, policing, early childhood education: all are among those Lethbridge College programs in which we train people to help people.

They’re among the obvious. Ask any who enter them why they chose their particular paths, and they’ll likely take time to explain, as our subjects in this issue do, what it means to don a nurse’s scrubs or a police officer’s uniform, or work with young children: they want to make a direct difference in people’s lives.

They will leave our campus with an absolute dedication just as surely as they leave with their diplomas.

That altruism, however, can be found in almost every program we offer, not just the obvious “caring careers” to which I’ve referred. Every spring, Lethbridge College turns out grads in numerous fields who carry with them a desire to improve the world.

They go forth as protectors of the environment; as proponents of building sustainability; as journalists upholding delicate, hard-won rights. They all take with them an understanding that they will shortly be in charge and that improvements must be made in the world they inherit.

And there will be no shortage of need for their talents. As our populations live longer and require greater care; as we strive to protect our besieged environment and discover better ways to build; as we continue to nurture and care for our younger generations: Lethbridge College grads will be increasingly needed on the front lines.

We are imbuing them with the spirit of critical thinking and giving them the knowledge to not just secure employment, but do so as conscientious members of our communities, ones who can meet the demands of an increasingly complex world.

Each April, I perform perhaps my most rewarding role as president of Lethbridge College: greeting each grad as they walk across our stage to receive their diplomas, applied degrees and certificates. Knowing our institution has played a part in preparing them for the challenge is rewarding; knowing they will measure up is profound.

Dr. Tracy L. Edwards Lethbridge College President & CEO

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Vol. 3, No. 3, Spring 2010

On Our Cover

Lethbridge College’s Therapeutic Recreation-Gerontology program is helping to ensure practitioners, soon to be in greater demand, are properly trained to provide the opportunities seniors require to maintain healthy, active lifestyles.

Joan Smith, our “motorcycle mama” on a bike provided by Les Billingsley of Auto Appearance, stays motivated through exercise, volunteering and grandmothering.

What’s Inside 10-second kids .................................…………….........6 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is fully preventable and incurable. Foster parent Jeff Solberg is in class to learn more about the challenges his young charges face.

Star of nursing ...............................……………...........12 Toyin Bamgbala arrived at Lethbridge College from Nigeria with plans to be a nurse. So far, her grades are off the chart.

Country roads take her home ..................................26 Annica Pictin used to tour the Kootenays in her dad’s pick-up.

Soon, she’ll be helping to protect the environment she grew up to love.

Our animal act goes global ......................................30 Lethbridge College’s amazing Hubbard Wildlife Collection, housed in the Cousins Science Centre, is now available to the world online and in 3-D. Bear Trainer .....................................……………….....36 As a child, Brad Karren watched his father coach Kodiaks women’s basketball. Since taking over the reins, he’s made the program one of the most successful in Canada.

Wider Horizons is Lethbridge College’s community magazine, celebrating the successes and accomplishments of its students, employees and alumni by promoting them throughout the community and around the world. This publication aims to educate its readers, engage stakeholders and recognize donors through compelling stories and images that relate to, and resonate with, its readers.

Wider Horizons is published three times a year by the Lethbridge College Advancement Office.

We thank you for picking up this copy and hope you enjoy the read. If you would like to recommend story ideas for future issues or would like to find out more about our magazine, contact us.

Wider Horizons c/o The Advancement Office 3000 College Drive South Lethbridge, AB T1K 1L6 email: WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca publisher: Steven Dyck manager: Carmen Toth chief writer: Peter Scott photographer: Rob Olson designer: Christine Smith, Idezine magazine staff: Imarú Baquero, Leeanne Conrad, Michelle Stegen

In addition to free distribution to our regional community, Wider Horizons is also mailed to all Lethbridge College alumni. Alumni are encouraged to stay connected to the college by updating their contact information at the Alumni Relations website: lethbridgecollege.ca/alumni To share this issue with others, visit us at widerhorizons.ca

In Every Issue

Perspectives……………………………………………………………………………………9 Q & A……………………………………………………………………………………………..14 Office Intrigue…………………………………………………………………………………20 My Life…………………………………………………………………………………………..32 College Kudos…………………………………………………………………………………38 Where are they now?………………………………………………………………………39

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Senior Momentum Our grads help the elderly stay active James Frey

If there was a course Shari Jeffries might have wished Lethbridge College’s Therapeutic Recreation – Gerontology (TRG) curriculum included, it would be drumming.

Jeffries, a 2008 graduate and now a recreational assistant at the Bethany Care Centre in Cochrane, is initiating a program for her elderly clients that will have them beating on 18 Native American and African drums, the first program of its kind in a facility of this kind.

“Research has shown that the rhythmic movement can reduce stress, manage pain, and re-organize the brain,” says Jeffries. “This is important for residents with dementia, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s and similar conditions.”

Jeffries has been asked to present the outcome of the drumming program to second-year TRG students at Lethbridge College this September.

The goal is get students to think differently about recreation.

So, drumming may well be added to the repertoire of geriatric specialists in the coming years. Are you ready to get down with the music?

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To their credit, many baby boomers, now entering their senior years, are staying fitter and healthier than the generations that preceded them. They have more disposable income and a desire to bop till they drop.

“People entering their 60s now are healthier than those in their 60s 20 years ago,” says Kathryn Ervin, a Lethbridge College TRG Colleen Moses works with resident Ruth Johnson at St. Therese Villa in Lethbridge.

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instructor. “We all hear about the 85-year-old that goes skydiving. Soon those people will become common-place, not to mention the 100-year-old marathon runners.” But sooner or later, they will place huge demands on the therapeutic recreation field and properly trained practitioners will be required to keep them active as they enter care facilities.

“I remember when I was five going to the seniors centre with my grandmother and dancing the hokey-pokey. Even something so simple can bring incredible enjoyment.”

The college’s TRG program is one of the few in Canada that trains professionals to work directly with our aging population.

It is unique because it specializes in gerontology, the study of the social, psychological and physical aspects of aging.

“We delve into their past using things like music, dolls and art,” she says. “Talking about their past lives is very therapeutic. They are really a fun population because they set aside many of their inhibitions.”

Graduates of the program go to work in the growing number of long-term care and supportive-living facilities.

“Therapeutic recreation is about helping people continue to live a balanced life,” says Ervin. “Keeping people engaged in recreation leads to a longer and more enjoyable life.”

Jeffries came into the program from an entirely different field, an English teacher who ran a tutoring business in Drayton Valley. She began taking Therapeutic Recreation courses through distance learning.

And no one knows this better than she. A 1990 graduate of the program, Ervin went on to a 16-year career in the therapeutic recreation field. In 2004 she came back to the college to teach part-time and in 2006 became a full-time faculty member.

“The benefits of recreation are huge and go far beyond the physical,” says Ervin. “Individuals can make choices about the activities and their level of participation. They become competent in their activities. They have control and, in turn, they become more motivated. All of these factors are particularly important as we age.”

In 2008 the TRG program won a series of awards from the Alberta Therapeutic Recreation Association.

“We really swept the awards ceremony that year,” says Ervin.

“One instructor award and two student awards; it was hard to contain our excitement.”

Colleen Moses, a 2008 graduate and one of the student award winners, says TRG considers the whole person.

“Imagine our lives without recreation; not just the physical aspects, but imagine not being able to read, watch television or socialize with friends,” says Moses, who works specifically with residents with dementia at St. Therese Villa in Lethbridge. “Some seniors go through that.”

That was her reason for entering the field. Moses began working as a homecare assistant and wanted to do something about the isolation she saw in some of her clients.

“Some of them only wanted someone to talk to,” she says.

But she credits her grandmother as her real inspiration.

At St. Therese Villa, part of Covenant Health, Moses employs different methods and resources when working with her clients.

In 2006, Jeffries began working at Bethany Care Centre and decided to complete her education. So, at 50, she attended her last year at Lethbridge College.

“The instructors supported me and helped me with scheduling, knowing that I was commuting to and from Cochrane each week,” says Jeffries.

“Imagine our lives without recreation; not just the physical aspects, but imagine not being able to read, watch television or socialize with friends. Some seniors go through that.”

– Colleen Moses

After graduating, she started full time at Bethany and, besides the drumming program, is also responsible for creating a team approach to evaluating residents’ needs.

“We take a minimum data set of information from the residents: their likes and dislikes, their abilities, etc. During the evaluation we involve all members of the team, not just the recreation therapists.”

By using a more integrated approach they can build a better picture of each resident and develop a program that best suits them. This team-based approach has now been adopted by the other five sites at Bethany.

When she presents her drumming program results on campus this fall, Jeffries will complete the circle of learning so valued at Lethbridge College: a former student who brings back to the program the knowledge she has gained in the world.

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Jeff Solberg, FASD education certificate student and foster parent.

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10-second FASD KIDS Quick Facts Program helps understanding of FASD Christina Boese Communication Arts ’08

Jeff Solberg admits that when he and his wife brought their six-week-old foster daughter home from the hospital, they were a little overwhelmed. Born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), she faced failing organs and a host of other medical issues that required around-the-clock care.

Like most parents in their situation, they were filled with questions. Luckily, the couple found all the answers they needed in their own backyard. As the only program of its kind in Alberta, and one of a handful nationwide, Lethbridge College’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Education certificate program is helping to meet a distressing and growing need.

Solberg and his wife have six children, two of whom, a boy and a girl, are foster children with FASD. He is in his second semester of Lethbridge College’s Child and Youth Care program, and is working on completing his FASD Education certificate in an effort to gain more knowledge on the subject.

“We started a foster family about five or six years ago,” says Solberg. “As I got more into the world of children at risk and children in need, it was just something that got to my heart. In this case, we met a need without understanding it completely, and we took on a child that had [FASD]. It’s something that, quite frankly, we didn’t know if we were capable of dealing with.”

The first case of FASD was diagnosed in 1973. The syndrome is related to brain damage caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The college began its FASD Education certificate program, now offered entirely through distance learning, in 2007 after realizing the overwhelming need: today, some 23,000 Albertans are living with the effects of FASD. FASD, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, is a social issue that is not going away.

“Pregnant women's use of alcohol cannot be separated from other issues in their lives, such as violence and socioeconomic status, and their alcohol use is often not easily isolated from other potentially harmful behaviours, including tobacco and other drug use,” says the

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is considered by experts to be the leading known cause of non-genetic intellectual disability in the Western world.

Cause: alcohol consumption during pregnancy Prevention: abstinence from alcohol during pregnancy Cure: none Documented Incidence: one per cent of the Canadian population, or about 300,000; four times the rate of AIDS/HIV. Rates are higher (2.5 to 20 per cent) in some isolated northern communities.

Genetic links: none; cannot be passed generationally TYPICAL PROBLEMS: • simple math, handling money • reasoning • learning from experience • understanding consequences • remembering things • social interaction Related physical problems: hearing, vision.

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada (publichealth.gc.ca) Resources: http://fas.typepad.com http://fasworld.com

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agency’s website. “In general, problematic substance use for women is linked to a range of biological, genetic, psychological, social, cultural, relational, environmental, economic and spiritual factors.

“However, there are good reasons to concentrate on alcohol alone. These range from the various negative health consequences of alcohol use for pregnant women, including physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, to the fact that alcohol use during pregnancy is one of the leading causes of birth defects and developmental delays in Canadian children.”

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the condition is affected differently, and what might work for one child might not work for another.

“Every individual is going to experience the effects of the alcohol-related birth defect differently,” says Norbury-Sulin.

“A child may, for instance, have some learning difficulties, or have difficulty understanding the consequences of their behavior, or a combination of issues of varying degrees.”

Ontario graduating this month, says the program has given her the tools she requires to understand FASD and help those in need.

“The program has taught me to look beyond a disability and into the person,” says Leiterman. “I have learned that this college has a kinship, and there are fantastic teachers that are eager and willing to listen, explain, and teach.

A

Solberg explains much of their knowledge on the subject came from learning day by day, which presented its own set of challenges.

“A child with FASD is a 10-second child in a one-second world,” he says. “We’ve got children on both ends of the scale: one is moderately affected and the other is severely affected, and they both have their own separate set of problems. FASD is a neurobehavioural disability, and while [our foster daughter] may present well, speak well and look right, her ability to control behaviour is affected. Many people think she’s a child who won’t behave, when in fact, she’s a child who can’t behave.”

Solberg also notes the rewards of raising FASD children far outweigh any of the challenges that present themselves.

“With regular children, there’s a reciprocal love, a give and take that rewards a parent: ‘I love you and you love me back in a way that society expects.’ A child with FASD may express their love in completely different ways,” he says. “The reward comes from a whole different set of circumstances.”

Kimber Norbury-Sulin, co-ordinator of the FASD Education program at the college, explains every child born with

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She notes more trained people are required to support people with the effects of FASD, and a large portion of the people who enroll in the program are professionals looking to extend their knowledge about this brain-based disability.

“I often get professionals who already work in the field in various capacities,” she says. “I’ve had everybody from professionals working in social services to nurses and teachers. At this time, I have approximately 30 students working towards their certificate.”

Because the program is offered by distance, students come from across Canada.

“When they find us, they’re very excited because we are the only one designed to support children, adults and families living with FASD,” says Norbury-Sulin.

The program can be completed full- or part-time from home, and the skills learned can be applied immediately.

A fast-track option is available for students with a related human-service degree or diploma. Those with previous work experience and knowledge may receive advance credit for some courses.

The FASD Education certificate also transfers directly into year two of Lethbridge College’s Disability and Community Rehabilitation diploma program, which transfers into degree programs at various Canadian universities.

Marilyn Leiterman, a student from

“I have also learned that people with FASD are whole people, vital people deserving of rights and understanding just like the rest of us. I have learned to look beyond a disability and into the person with an exceptionality, often one that is well hidden and completely misunderstood.”

FASD instructor Laura Elliot (Child and Youth Care ’86) notes FASD, for which there is no cure, can sometimes be difficult to pinpoint.

“A child with FASD is a 10second child in a one-second world. We’ve got children on both ends of the scale: one is moderately affected and the other is severely affected, and they both have their own separate set of problems.”

– Jeff Solberg

“The main challenge is that this is such an invisible disability,” says Elliot.

“These individuals look exactly like their peers most of the time, and there are very few physical effects that you can actually see. It’s a true developmental disability.

“They’re functioning at a much younger age, so they have learning disabilities, but they also have behavioural and social skills issues that are brain-based.

It is the only developmental disability that is 100 per cent preventable.”

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Wider Horizons asked:

Do you think society gives you adequate support to do your job?

I am very fortunate to work in an industry where I have the opportunity to help others. At the same time, I feel fortunate to be in a career in which I am supported so strongly by the public. We as EMS professionals rely heavily on support from the public in many areas. We often come upon scenes where we need the assistance from the public in gathering information as well as in rare instances where we call on the public to assist us in our work. Many services also rely on the public for funding and donations for extra equipment. I believe that every time I go to work I have the full support and backing from the people in my community. I also believe the public respects the work I do, and that gives me great job satisfaction.

Drew Clark (EMT ‘08) EMR,EMT-A Coaldale and District Emergency Services

As a police officer, I feel very fortunate to work in a community that is supportive of its police service. That being said, we recognize times have changed and this support is no longer just given; it must be earned. The members of our service strive to uphold our values of respect, honesty, integrity, excellence and commitment as we work to provide safe communities and earn the public’s trust and confidence. It’s also important for police officers to be active in the community, build relationships and get to know the people we serve in order to maintain public support, dispel myths and help foster a true understanding about what we do. Community participation is equally important for our members because it helps them recognize that as police officers we have negative dealings with a very small percentage of the population and the vast majority of our citizens are good, law-abiding people.

Sgt. Mark Smallbones (Criminal Justice 1998) Lethbridge Regional Police Service

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It’s more than a back rub

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MASSAGE THERAPY

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THERAPY

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James Frey

If you have experienced a massage you know about the immediate physical benefits – relaxation, pain relief, and the big smiles. But there is a huge difference between an occasional back rub given by a spouse and a 45-minute deep tissue massage by a trained professional.

As the costs and inaccessibility of traditional health care continue to rise, more people are looking for complementary therapies to deal with chronic pain, acute injury and overall wellness. Practical massage therapy training puts people with the right hands on the job.

The Massage Therapy diploma program at Lethbridge College provides training that is really hands-on (pun intended).

There is an almost one-on-one classroom experience focusing on the technical aspects of human anatomy, business practices, and ethical behaviour. Students also spend about a third of the two-year program practicing what they learn, in the college’s on-site massage clinic or with one of several local massage clinics.

“The students need to get practical experience assessing a variety of clients, developing treatment plans and working on their techniques,” says Gloria Cormican, co-chair of the School of Health Sciences. “They can’t fully develop if they only work on each other.”

The training students receive at Lethbridge College is not, however, an industry-wide standard. There are numerous agencies offering massage training, but few that employ standards that will soon be legislated by government to acquire the designation of registered massage therapist.

“In the meantime, it is still possible for anyone to hang up a shingle as a massage therapist,” says instructor Jim Manzara, former trainer for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. “So consumers should really check into credentials of any massage therapist they are thinking of visiting. The college program is designed to meet the guidelines being proposed by the province, and we are working towards what is being proposed at a national level. The other provinces will then have to work up to and meet those standards.”

A study in 2007 found that 85 per cent of clients visiting the college’s massage clinic cited relaxation as the main reason they sought treatment.

“Most of the clients the students see in the massage clinic are healthy,” says Manzara. “In the real world, clients will come with a variety of issues. Massage is an important treatment for people with acute muscle and joint injuries and chronic conditions.”

This need to work with different populations led the college to develop a unique collaboration with the Kainai Continuing Care Centre (KCCC) in Standoff on the Kainai First Nation.

Because of its remote location, KCCC has difficulty accessing some services, including massage therapy. The college’s Massage Therapy program was invited to pilot a practicum experience for their students at KCCC. In 2008, students started a 20-hour practicum placement, working in teams with instructors discussing individual cases and treatment plans. They worked on a variety of clients, some with very complex needs.

“Some clients had terminal conditions and others were experiencing chronic pain,” says Manzara. “The experience gave our students a chance to work on people who might not come into a massage clinic. The residents also experienced the positive benefits of massage – relaxation, better sleep and improved mobility.”

Jennifer Davis, former Massage Therapy practicum supervisor, wrote an article on the Kainai practicum for Connections, a publication for Natural Health Practitioners of Canada.

“Massage therapy is a more holistic and natural healing practice and has a natural linkage with the Kainai culture and traditional medicine,” says Davis.

There are numerous agencies offering massage training, but few that employ standards that will soon be legislated by government to acquire the designation of registered massage therapist.

The opportunity at KCCC was not available in 2009 because of the risk of H1N1 infection. But the Massage Therapy students have been working more in the community: at Lethbridge’s two seniors’ centres and serving as volunteers at community events and fundraising sporting events such as runs, walks and dragonboat races.

“Our student massage booths tend to be some of the more popular activities at these events,” says Manzara.

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Toyin Bamgbala admits she’s had some options in her life so far, but education wasn’t one of them: she made it mandatory.

Growing up in Nigeria with parents who placed an emphasis on knowledge, and following six older siblings who have nothing less than masters’ degrees, the family’s “baby” was destined for a life of learning.

of

This month, Bamgbala finishes her second year in the Nursing Education in Southwestern Alberta (NESA) program and is halfway home to a degree that will allow her to fulfil her goal to better the lives of others.

“I’ve always had a passion to be part of people’s lives,” she says. “Nursing allows you to be part of their lives from the cradle to the tomb. Caring is a foundation of nursing and of my own personality. I love working with people.”

And so, after high school and theology studies in Nigeria, Bamgbala set sail for Malaysia where she completed a year of registered nursing training. But Canada’s standard of living and level of education was a strong lure. She discovered the NESA program, which all students enter through two years at Lethbridge College and finish with two years at the University of Lethbridge.

She was able to transfer her Malaysian credits to NESA and enter as a second-year student. She took on a Herculean workload to catch up to classmates, despite gentle advice from an advisor concerned she might falter academically.

Instead, she is at the top of her class with a near-perfect grade point average.

Her instructors have been impressed, Tracey Forster among them.

“I absolutely enjoyed having her in my class,” says Forster, who taught Bamgbala clinicals in labour and delivery and some theory. “Being an international student always has its challenges, but she exuded confidence and participated in discussions and communicated easily. Her natural inquisitiveness was a big asset to her learning.”

English is the national language of Nigeria (the product of a strong British influence in the 19th century), so Bamgbala

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learned it as a child and speaks it perfectly. Lethbridge College and Chinook Regional Hospital where she does her practicum have been welcoming, a relief to her after facing some discrimination in Malaysia.

“People here look at my qualifications, not my skin colour,” she says. “They just want to see that you know what you’re doing. I don’t look for discrimination, so I don’t find any. I think it’s important to note that I’ve felt welcome here.”

Arriving in July 2009, Bamgbala also had the opportunity to ease into winter, a season she claims to enjoy, although she was warned about the cold by her college dean in Malaysia. She has enjoyed a Lethbridge Hurricanes game, and, although it’s Swiss by origin, not Canadian, has been fascinated by fondue.

Skype and email have kept her in touch with her family – her siblings, three of whom are nurses, are spread around the world – whom she credits with her accomplishments.

“My family is my greatest motivation,” says Bamgbala. “If I am a success, it is because I am loved and because I have people who believe in me. I have a responsibility not to disappoint them.

“I believe that with hard work, determination and faith, anything is possible.”

The NESA curriculum and the instructional style at Lethbridge College has impressed her because it encourages critical thinking and lifelong learning.

“An instructor told me I won’t just finish this program and drop my books,” she says. “I value that part of the program; I know I made the right choice to come here. My practicum at Chinook Regional Hospital also stresses critical thinking and an application of ethics. You have a chance to affect the whole person, not just follow rules like a robot.”

The college’s SPHERE (Simulated Patient Health Environment for Research and Education) allowed her to discover her own abilities and gain feedback from colleagues while working on a human patient simulator “without the fear I would kill a patient.”

Nursing, she says, will offer her a different set of decisions to be made daily, and her learning will never be completed. She wants to practise in Lethbridge because she says she believes in working close to where she obtained her education.

“Education is the greatest way you can empower a person,” says Bamgbala. “Every day you are responsible for your own improvement. From my parents, I got the drive to be my best and to shoot for nothing less.

“If I have the resources, I will be learning until I die.”

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QA &

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with Matthew Berrigan

Matthew Berrigan, the 2010 winner of Lethbridge College’s Rising Star award (see page 23) came to the campus following a difficult high school career in Black Diamond. Knowing he wanted to be a teacher, but wondering if he had the jam to make it first as a student, he enrolled in General Studies, strategically selecting courses he knew would transfer to the University of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Education.

Turns out he had jam to spare.

Berrigan graduated from General Studies in 2003, from the U of L in 2006, and has taught upper elementary school since.

After two years in Cayley, he moved to Turner Valley School. In 2007, he was Foothills School Division’s nominee for the Edwin Parr Award, a rookie-of-the-year honour and in 2009 he graduated with a Master of Science from the University of Scranton in Scranton, Pa.

Wider Horizons: You came to Lethbridge College a little older than the typical high school grad.

Matthew Berrigan: Yes, I was 21. I took some time off after high school, which for me was tremendously difficult. Success in everything I tried was elusive. Lethbridge College was a pivotal year. It was the point at which everything before, nothing had gone right and everything after,

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everything went right. I settled myself and learned what I wanted to do. Now I feel I can take on any challenge.

WH: What was different about that year?

MB: I was able to refocus. I knew I needed the skills and the confidence to get where I wanted to go, which was social studies education. It has an obscene GPA requirement. In high school,

I scored 58 per cent; it was my Everest. Instructors such as Marko Hilgersom and Faron Ellis spent hours with me going over papers and showing me how I could improve. That assistance made possible my success in humanities at the U of L. I left Lethbridge College with the confidence that I could do it, and with the skills to actually do it. That can’t happen in a class of 200 students. I doubt, except for

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my education professors, any U of L profs remember me.

After seven years, my Lethbridge College instructors still remember my name.

WH: Now that you’re in front of a classroom, with young students, do you incorporate any of their teaching skills?

MB: I hope I do. I certainly aspire to carry into my own teaching role what my college

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instructors did for me.

WH: Do you see yourself at their age in some of your students?

MB: Every year, there’s one in whom I see myself, one who lacks success socially and academically and whom I see as a shadow of me. I’m drawn to those kids, although when you work with children every day, you’re drawn to all of them. But when I can identify with them, it’s easier to meet

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their needs, or find other ways in which to relate to them.

WH: You’ve instituted some sports programs at Turner Valley.

MB: Right. I and several other teachers in the area instituted a flag football and a volleyball league. After the football season, we were able to take all the kids to Calgary to play on the turf at McMahon Stadium. It was a real thrill.

WH: What’s the main draw for you to teaching?

MB: It’s the interpersonal connection to the kids and the community and to be able to fulfill a role in their lives. I teach upper elementary, kids who are at a fantastic age – 11 and 12 – who truly feel they can do whatever they set their minds to, from becoming veterinarians to the NHL. It’s my job to foster those big dreams.

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Where there’s a will Why you should write it down

Paul Gerhart Public Legal Education co-ordinator

Deciding how to distribute what we own after we pass away and taking steps to see that our wishes will be carried out are definitely among those “shoulds” of life. So, too, is providing for the possibility of losing capacity to make decisions for ourselves. However, even for subjects like these that we might prefer to avoid or defer (but really ought not to), a little learning is often a good answer. It can help us get past that uninformed, intimidated space in which we’re often stuck before we’re ready to move ahead to take some actual steps.

Lethbridge College’s Public Legal Education program has a presentation for just this kind of situation. It’s called An Enduring Power of Attorney; A Personal Directive; A Will - A Legal Toolkit. It will give you some basic familiarity with these three documents and their requirements.

For instance, you’ll learn about the responsibilities of a personal representative under a will, and that in a will you can set out what happens to your property after death, but that there are certain types of property a will does not cover.

The other two documents can help you address those potential capacity issues. You can appoint an agent in a personal directive to make personal decisions for you if you are unable to, and an attorney in an enduring power of attorney to make your financial decisions if you become incapable.

Now, you could ignore the whole thing. If you don’t make a valid will, you actually do have one anyway, by default. Alberta intestacy law sets out rules for what happens to the property of people who die without a will; that may be all you want or need. However, it may not. For example, you may want to give property to somebody not listed in this law, or set up special arrangements for young children.

Likewise, if you become unable to make your own decisions, and don’t have a personal directive or enduring power of attorney, someone can apply to the court for an order appointing a person to make those decisions for you.

However, that procedure is more cumbersome and quite likely more expensive than having the documents in place,

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and the decision about who to appoint could be, depending on circumstances, no longer yours.

You should be aware that public legal education is general education and information only and no substitute for obtaining legal advice. For someone to sit down to give you legal advice specific to your situation, and to prepare the documents for you, you need to see a lawyer.

Legal Toolkit presentations are available from the Public Legal Education program either as evening programming at Lethbridge College, or at Law At Lunch at the Lethbridge Public Library. If you can’t attend either of those venues, video conference delivers the presentations to sites in many areas of Alberta.

For more information on wills and other legal situations, check the Public Legal Education program section in Lethbridge College’s Mind Body Home course catalogue or lethbridgecollege.ca/go/MBH

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ESL in the TLC ” c i t o n a y c “ ” ” c i a t i d e r r a o c y h “tach “diap

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College program will help nurses speak the language

Diaphoretic, cyanotic, tachycardia: terms that most English speakers do not sprinkle through their everyday conversations, regardless of their language skills.

So, imagine someone for whom English is not their first language attempting to learn these terms common to Canadian nurses.

Qualified foreign nurses who want to practise in Canada might possess the required clinical skills, but fall short on occupational English proficiency.

Come September, they’ll be able to logon to Lethbridge College to upgrade their skills in the language of nursing, allowing them to pass accreditation exams.

Nursing, like many technical occupations, comes with its own set of terms, and a communication style different from other professions. Dealing with patients, reading prescriptions and following procedures all require an understanding of nuance.

The Lethbridge College initiative comes at a prime time considering the looming nursing shortage; it was a calculation Harttrup built into his response to the government’s request for proposals.

“Canada benefits through improved healthcare,” says Harttrup. “The end result will enhance the integration of these nursing students into our society, better preparing them to advance in their field and in their careers.”

Besides international students, says Harttrup, the program could assist new Canadians, including those now in high school. English as a Second Language programs normally do not include occupational components.

Nursing, like many technical occupations, comes with its own set of terms, and a communication style different from other professions.

“Our target market consists of internationally educated nurses preparing for certification exams,” says Philip Harttrup, director of Lethbridge College’s English Language Centre (ELC) who pioneered the online process. “However, we’d eventually like to see it expanded to nursing students who might be struggling with their courses because of the language barrier.”

“We’re aware there are many immigrant students in high schools whose mother tongue is not English and who could benefit from this type of learning,” he says.

The ELC secured a grant of $306,000 from Alberta Employment and Immigration to create four online components: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Two other courses are being added by NorQuest College in Edmonton, which developed the classroom program.

Several of these programs would attract more foreignlanguage students if they offered additional language training, while the students taking them would achieve job readiness much more quickly by learning the language specific to the profession.

The college has many international students on campus, and enrolment is rising in the types of professions requiring technical and vocational education and training.

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Office Intrigue:

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Framed cover of Powder magazine, featuring husband Randy Samuel.

Old-style photo of school’s administrative assistants, Jane’s “valued employees.”

Print of the Blue Dog, picked up in New Orleans.

Penguin: sits beside Our Iceberg Is Melting

by John Kotter, a book on leadership.

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As her bookshelf proves, Jane Friesen, Lethbridge College’s dean of Health, Justice and Human Services, believes in leadership development. She and her team are working to enhance programming to reflect the needs of employers and the learning needs of students. Born in Saskatchewan, Friesen was raised primarily in Red Deer and came to Lethbridge from Grande Prairie Regional College. jane.friesen@lethbridgecollege.ca

d-style photo of ol’s administrative sistants, Jane’s ued employees.”

Five Rules For Mastering Leadership.

Photo with Dean Sandy Vanderbergh in Waterton.

Shot of Himalayan cats Tenzing and Hillary.

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Our Star Alumni Each April, Lethbridge College sends a new crop of students on its way with our best wishes. They have all impressed us with their diligence and thirst for education.

We are confident all will succeed in their chosen fields, or course, but every year there are those who leave us possessing something that raises them above the ordinary, much like the four people described here.

The Office of Alumni Relations honours, from the many nominations received, those graduates who have risen above, and demonstrated those special characteristics and achievement. They are our Distinguished Alumni, chosen in four categories.

We are proud to introduce the 2010 recipients:

Distinguished Alumni Award

Colin Ward

Civil Engineering Technology, 1995

For the strong sense of dedication to his community he displays through his professional and personal involvement, Colin Ward is chosen by Lethbridge College as its Distinguished Alumnus for 2010.

“This is a big honour, especially knowing who past recipients are,” says Ward, who obtained a Civil Engineering Technology diploma in 1995.

As manager of Ward Bros. Construction, a locally owned family business, Ward has overseen major components on the Lethbridge landscape, among them the Enmax Centre addition and renovation, the Sunrise Poultry hatchery and processing plant; renovations to the Cousins Science Centre at Lethbridge College and Gilbert Paterson Middle School, Ecole St. Mary and 1st Choice Savings and Credit Union’s Fairmont Branch.

“I’m still using the skills I learned at Lethbridge College, such as drafting and estimating; everything except the math,” says Ward with a grin.

His expertise in his profession has led him to represent the construction sector on the Economic Development Lethbridge board of directors, on which he has made significant contributions, supporting the board’s development of regional economic opportunities in renewable energy and creation of a technology commercialization centre.

Ward has sponsored several charitable causes, such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Steps for Life, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, St. Michael’s Health Centre, Interfaith Food Bank and the school breakfast program in both city school divisions.

He has long been a supporter of Lethbridge College, creating the Ward Bros. Construction award, enabling students with financial needs to pursue careers in carpentry. He further demonstrates dedication to the institution by supporting its initiatives and advocating for many fundraising activities. He sits on the Lethbridge College Foundation Board, is past-president of the Lethbridge Construction Association, and is incoming president of the Alberta Construction Association.

Ward is a successful business leader who continues to devote his energy and resources to the economic, social and cultural fabric of Lethbridge, making a significant contribution to ensure its future prosperity. Congratulations, Colin.

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Career Virtuoso Award • Maggie Olson (Nursing 1973) For her compassionate, life-long contributions to the nursing profession, Maggie (Hayden) Olson is chosen by Lethbridge College as recipient of its Career Virtuoso Award for 2010.

Olson graduated from Lethbridge College’s Registered Nursing program in 1973, practising full time for the next 36 years. She still finds time now to work on a casual basis at Pincher Creek Hospital.

“I’m quite humbled by this award,” says Olson, who originally considered a teaching career.

“I’m used to giving recognition, not receiving it.”

A career counsellor, noting her proficiency in sciences, suggested she consider nursing at Lethbridge College, which she credits as a

turning point in her life.

Olson served her profession in the operating room, maternity ward, intensive care, and in emergency, serving also in general medical nursing. She has taught student nurses, supported and encouraged colleagues and maintained her multiple certifications.

She served as head nurse of Pincher Creek’s combined surgical/obstetrical unit, taking management training. She also advocated many years for the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses, served as an instructor of the neonatal resuscitation program, sat on the Southern Alberta Perinatal Committee and is still an instructor for the MORE OB obstetrical program.

Community Leader Award • Kirk Hofman (Business Administration, 1978)

For his extensive contributions to his home community of Nobleford in politics, recreation and economic diversity, Kirk Hofman is chosen

by Lethbridge College as recipient of its Community Leader Award for 2010.

“I’m not usually speechless, but I am having trouble finding words to describe this honour,” says Hofman.

He earned a Business Administration (Management) diploma in 1978. While a student, he made his mark on the Lethbridge College Kodiaks volleyball team, and fell in love with wife Barbara. Their daughter Amanda is a Communication Arts ’09 grad.

Since moving to Nobleford in 1983, Hofman has been a tireless community activist. Elected to the village council a year later at 24, he served until 1995, passionately promoting initiatives geared to improving the quality of life for residents. He supported smoke-free public areas, chaired the Oldman River Regional Recreation Board, served as a Palliser School Board trustee, sat on the provincial Energize Board and was involved with the Southern Alberta Summer Games, coached high school volleyball and basketball, all to encourage healthy lifestyles, sportsmanship and respect for others.

In 2004, Hofman was recruited to again serve his community as Nobleford’s chief administrative officer.

Rising Star Award • Matthew Berrigan (General Studies, 2003) For his dynamic development as an educator, Matthew Berrigan is chosen by Lethbridge College as winner of its Rising Star Award for 2010.

“The college gave me a lifelong love of learning that is integral to me today in my life as a teacher,” says Berrigan. “The opportunity that I had to explore a multitude of disciplines in the General Studies program helped me discover a variety of passions that define who I am today.”

When he came to Lethbridge College in 2002, Berrigan came with a goal: to obtain a teaching degree. He took General Studies courses geared to university transfer. In 2006, he earned a Bachelor of Education (Great Distinction) from

the University of Lethbridge.

In his first year at Cayley, he won an Excellence in Teaching Award and was chosen by the Foothills School District as its Edwin Parr Award nominee. He now serves as a lead teacher in Turner Valley.

Now completing his master’s of science in education, he continues to teach and stay involved in creating recreational opportunities for students in Turner Valley, Black Diamond, Okotoks, High River and Cayley in a variety of sports.

Matthew Berrigan discusses teaching in our Q&A section, page 14.

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The week before Lethbridge College dispatched Garry Andrews to the Northwest Territories for five days of business training near Inuvik last February, the windchill was pushing the “high” to -31C and the sun wasn’t rising until 11:13 a.m.

Somebody’s retirement plan needs an adjustment.

When you sign up as an instructor for Lethbridge College’s Terry Royer Institute (Business Training and Development) you can find yourself stepping outside your comfort zone.

Andrews, a former Palliser School Division superintendent, might once have envisioned sunny beaches when he retired; life had other ideas.

The college sent Andrews, who holds a doctorate in education, to deliver its Foundations of Leadership program to the Gwichya Gwich’in Band in the charter community of Tsiigehtchic, an hour southwest of Inuvik. As with many business opportunities these days, the band did an Internet search for “leadership training;” Lethbridge College topped the hit list.

Sean Miles, BTD program director, says he’s not surprised in the band’s desire for a leadership program. In his twiceweekly visits to southern Alberta businesses, he finds the demand for leadership is a consistent theme.

“Leadership seems to be a universal demand,” says Miles. “It’s the largest challenge facing businesses today, from the shop floor to upper-level management. It’s about how you align your vision and goals.”

While businesses in Lethbridge College’s service area can easily arrange for training on campus or at their premises, communities in Canada’s far-flung locales have the challenge of isolation. But, as the Gwichya Gwich’in now know, the college delivers. Miles is hopeful the BTD leadership program will catch on, through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada,

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to other isolated northern communities.

“There’s a big demand, and we deliver it as they want it,” says Miles. “We plan to customize it even further to fit Aboriginal communities by making it a real-world experience for them.”

Flexibility is a byword for the BTD team, a feature that continues to delight its customers.

“Whatever you want, when you want it and how you want it,” says Miles. “It’s what gives us our competitive advantage.

People are often surprised by that because it’s not what you expect from a post-secondary institution. We also have the credibility of a post-secondary institution.”

Deploying instructors with Andrews’ credentials is another competitive strength for BTD, an aspect Miles hopes to build.

“We’re lucky to have seasoned experts around us with considerable experience and credibility,” he says. “We are increasing our repertoire of instructors like Garry.”

BTD’s involvement with First Nations and Inuit communities is one of its priorities, and delivering Foundations of Leadership, well-known in southern Alberta, so far from 3000 College Drive is helping it develop connections in other regions of Canada.

Those who took Andrews’ week-long seminar developed opportunities for employment within their band, equipped with the leadership skills they’ll need in their community and throughout the Northwest Territories.

Now, if only Miles could find him a comfy week somewhere with a beach. . .

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Annica Pictin follows the career footsteps of her dad Pat.

When she was a little girl, Annica Pictin would climb into the cab of her dad’s truck and accompany him on bush cruises through the Kootenays.

From Cranbrook they’d travel, with her black Lab, Mocha, through some of the most awe-inspiring scenery in Western Canada, often reaching altitudes that spread out the world, eating their lunches with the Rockies in the background while lakes gleamed in sunshine far below.

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Photo: Jamie Wiens, Cranbrook, B.C.

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Photo: Jamie Wiens, Cranbrook, B.C.

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The truck was like her father’s second office, one from which he ensured lumber companies adhered to their leases and treated the land with respect.

As Pat Pictin’s only child, the bond between dad and daughter grew tighter on those forest forays, and young Annica began to realize she wanted her future office to be on four wheels, too.

Now halfway to her Renewable Resource Management (RRM) diploma, Pictin is a year away from that reality. And when she returns to her beloved East Kootenay, she’ll take with her a love of all things living.

“I get that from my Dad,” says the bubbly, personable 20-year-old. “I hate cutting down even one tree or watching worms dry up on the sidewalk.”

About a year ago, Annica knew she wanted to take Environmental Science at Lethbridge College. Although she had a choice of several programs, Pat Pictin graduated from the equivalent of the RRM program in 1984 (he added a watershed management option two years later, now called Environmental Assessment and Restoration) and Annica only had to look at his diploma to know that was the branch she wanted to pursue.

“Dad warned me it was a difficult program, and he was right,” says Pictin.

“But deep down, even though he won’t say it, I know he’s pleased I’m following in his footsteps.”

So, through her time on campus, Annica has been living the curriculum, “blending theory and hands-on learning to gain a comprehensive grounding in fields ranging from zoology and plant taxonomy to statistics, aerial photography interpretation and geographic information systems.”

She’ll also “complete field exercises to assess fish populations, use radio telemetry to measure wildlife movements, use GIS to interpret grazing patterns and learn how to apply forestry practices.”

All of which will lead her to “a

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successful career in the sustainable management of natural resources.”

The day of this interview, she was studying for a plant taxonomy exam, committing to memory names such as thermopsis rhombifloria and oxytropsis sericea.

“I had always heard the common names for plants and animals discussed and shown to me when I was out fishing or mushroom picking with my Dad.”

Annica is now considering forest plant taxonomy as her specialization. She envisions a career in range management, ensuring Kootenay ranchers follow proper environmental practices on Crown land.

She could work with animals, which she loves, or work in the Bull River Trout Hatchery half an hour southeast of Cranbrook, a spot at which she always demanded a stop when out with her dad.

Amazing just how wide the reach of an RRM diploma is. And, it comes with a view.

“The scenery in the mornings above Pyramid Creek in the St. Mary’s Valley is awesome; you go up there and you’re overlooking the entire East Kootenay. In the city, I just ball up with stress. Out there, I unwind.”

She is her father’s daughter. Pat Pictin was also born and raised in the Kootenays. During high school in Creston, he worked as a water sampler for Environment Canada, and after graduation spent time in the lumber and construction industries before heading to Lethbridge.

“I attended Lethbridge College because of the practical nature of the program, the proven quality of the curriculum and the high likelihood of a job placement,” says Pat. “I enjoyed the college and found it to be a significant maturation point in my life.”

Following a series of jobs that took him from the Lethbridge Research Station to Alberta Environment and CP Rail, Pat gained full-time work with the B.C.

Ministry of Environment in its water management branch, thanks to a friend and Lethbridge College classmate. After promotion to water resource specialist, he joined the B.C. Forest Service in 1997, responsible for a wide range of duties, including prescribed burning, ecosystem restoration, and, when necessary, enforcement of environmental laws.

“I’m very proud Annica has chosen the RRM program, knowing first-hand the dedication required to be successful,” he says.

After Grade 12 and before settling into studies at Lethbridge College, Annica took a year off, much of it spent outdoors.

“I think you spend a lot of high school trying to find out who you are,” she says. “I’m a big fan of music festivals, so we’d camp out for five days listening to music, or just driving to lakes in the area. This summer, I hope to climb Fisher Peak, the highest peak in the Cranbrook area. I’ve never done it, but I hear the feeling of standing at the top is indescribable.”

Two years in a classroom, even one within sight of the mountains, would have been torture for this outdoors gal, but field trips and hands-on learning have given her enough fresh air to make the book learning liveable.

And her passion is not lost on her younger brother Bobby and sister Chelsea, whom she occasionally takes with her on snowboarding and cycling expeditions.

“They look up to me a lot, so I’m trying to be a positive role model,” says Annica.

Her father gets the last word here, directed to his daughter and her classmates:

“Don’t be disheartened by the current economic situation. The well-rounded Lethbridge College training will allow you to roll with the punches until your dream job materializes.”

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When Lethbridge College stresses team-building these days, it reinforces the message with paddles.

Employees are quickly getting on board with the program.

When it launches its own dragonboat this spring, the college will embark on a mission to spread the sport’s ideals and concepts beyond the campus: dragonboating as a metaphor for corporate and community success.

“Dragonboating involves several analogies of teamwork, cooperation and leadership,” says Sharie Cousins, co-coach, with Chris Hansen, of the college’s two teams involved in the ATB Financial Lethbridge Rotary Dragonboat Festival, set for the last weekend in June this year. “Those analogies are played out in the boat.”

With that in mind, Lethbridge College hopes to use its dragonboat and new-found expertise as a corporate and community training tool. Imagine: your company learning teamwork not in a boardroom, but on the waters of Henderson Lake. Tracy Edwards, Lethbridge College president, immediately saw the possibilities.

“When I realized the elements of a successful dragonboat team were synonymous with the culture we are trying to build at Lethbridge College, I knew we had to have our own,” says Edwards. “It is truly a team sport. There are no superstars; winning occurs only when all members work in harmony.”

The college has received requests from off-campus organizations wishing to use the boat for teamwork training, including the Lethbridge Hurricanes. After a less-than-stellar session on the water, the junior hockey team personified the tenet that strength and testosterone is not enough for dragonboat success.

Newcomers to the worldwide activity – it’s now second in participation to soccer – soon learn no single person can carry a dragon boat team.

“It’s not like hockey where a Gretzky can be such a dominant force,” says Cousins. “The team really is as good as its weakest link. There can’t be any showboaters or laggers, and it’s a real task to keep everyone together. If you have a keener, you have to manage them as part of the team. If you don’t, and they

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Sharie Cousins and Chris Hansen are pumped for the dragonboat season.

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interfere with other paddlers, it causes a chain reaction that can destroy the teamwork.”

A dragonboat team consists of 18 paddlers, a drummer and a steersperson, all crowded into a watercraft that planes like a block of cement. When finely tuned, all 18 paddles rise and plunge in unison to the drummer’s beat, while the steersperson keeps the boat on course. When not finely tuned, picture synchronized swimmers without the noseplugs, or a wind turbine just after a vane falls off.

Unlike Canada’s Olympic rowing eights, teams populated by buff athletes who work together for years to achieve world-class results, dragon-boat squads are often comprised of enthusiastic amateurs at all levels of fitness and skill who must come together in some semblance of teamwork in a few weeks.

“It’s a combination of finesse, technique and timing,” says Cousins. “You can’t succeed with strength alone.”

The college’s philosophy is that all are welcome under its banner, including members of the community with no formal ties to the campus. Husbands paddle with wives, kayakers show up next to golfers, and gym rats share seats with couch potatoes.

The college teams – one is competitive; one involves beer – have, under Cousins’ tutelage, developed a technique for working with such diverse groups. Cousins isn’t willing to divulge her trade secret to competitors (read: The University of Lethbridge, the college’s rival for post-secondary dragonboat supremacy), but the college will share it as part of its community outreach. Let’s just say it creates cohesiveness among the chaos, without diminishing the diversity that makes each team unique.

The leadership analogies become richer. The steersperson can’t keep the craft on track unless the paddlers build the required speed; without it, the boat will wallow in the waves and drift into opposing lanes. The drummer – sitting with back to the finish line, notes Cousins – must coax just the right paddle rate throughout the 500-metre race to allow for an optimum speed versus stamina.

The heavy dragonboats start from a dead stop, requiring paddlers to go hard at the start to get the craft to plane. If they flag, the boat will drop back down and the race will be lost. But push hard too long, and there’ll be nothing left for the finish.

Goals, too, can differ. Some teams seek gold medals, some compete against the clock and others are happy just to finish.

“My goal is to have people say ‘I want to be on that team’,” says Cousins, who started her paddling career with A Breast of ‘bridge, the well-known Lethbridge team comprised of breastcancer survivors. “Just the word, dragonboat, brings up images of energy, communication, excitement, teamwork and elation.”

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Our animal act

goes global with lcwildlife.ca When Alf Hubbard began collecting specimens of Alberta’s wildlife years ago, it’s doubtful he could have envisioned their transition into a global teaching tool.

Hubbard’s goal of sharing his vast collection with southern Alberta was realized in 2007 when his family donated it to Lethbridge College.

Today, Lethbridge College is sharing it with the world.

photographed multiple times, information on each researched and written, and the website presentation developed.

The site is partnered with the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. Some 150 Lethbridge College students already use the site, including students in zoology, wildlife and comparative animal biology.

The Hubbard Virtualization project (lcvirtualwildlife.ca) puts 60 of the species online with information on habitat, migration, diet, reproduction and conservation status. Site visitors can then call up a 3-D image of the species and rotate the image 360 degrees. The project has the potential to offer a 3-D skull image, video and audio information, tracks and range, and learning activities, making it one of the most comprehensive digital wildlife information sites in Canada.

Funded in part with a $90,000 grant from Inukshuk Wireless, a subsidiary of Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, the $168,000 project was headed by Shane Roersma, an instructor in Lethbridge College’s School of Environmental Sciences. Introduced to program students in December, it has already proven a hit.

“The real utility of this project is its use as a learning tool,” says Roersma. “With the large number of species our students have to identify, visual recognition is not always enough. This puts a huge amount of information at their fingertips. We anticipate it will lead to information retention and higher grades.”

Roersma says the Hubbard digitization can also be implemented in southern Alberta school districts, which expressed an interest when the project was first initiated more than a year ago.

The full collection, the most comprehensive of Alberta wildlife, is housed on campus and is available to public viewing, but the digitization now offers it to the world at a mouse click.

The collection is much larger than the initial 60 species; next to be digitized are 35 waterfowl species. Each animal must be

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Karen Harker, head of Lethbridge College’s Educational Enhancement Team that developed the site, says elementary and secondary schools have indicated they will use the Hubbard digitization in outdoor education classes and for special projects as a research tool.

“It’s changing the way students study,” says Harker. “This is a public website, allowing students at all levels to study from home. Others may include similar information, but the 3-D aspect makes ours unique.”

a

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Matt Smith lines up a northern goshawk for its portrait sitting. Smith photographed each specimen multiple times, rotating them on a turntable.

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Gelver Suarez and Katarina Shortt retool for the Canadian workplace.

When Katerina Shortt entered Russia’s Saint-Petersburg State Architectural and Construction University in 1986, the economy was doing well and finding work wasn’t a problem.

Then perestroika hit.

“It was good for freedom, but not so good for the economy,” says Shortt, now upgrading her credentials at Lethbridge College. “Nothing was being built.”

After eight years of training, Shortt was qualified as a civil engineer and spent a year working in her native Ukraine as a project estimator, but work was scarce.

So, after meeting her husband Brad online and moving to Lethbridge, Shortt assumed she’d fall comfortably into the hot provincial economy. But her qualifications weren’t fully accepted

by ASET, the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta. So, after taking ESL courses at Lethbridge College, she met with an instructor in Engineering Technologies who advised she send her credentials to

ASET to determine what she would require for certification.

This flexibility is allowing her to take the courses she needs to meet her accreditation, rather than the full twoyear diploma load. When she finishes this month, she will be able to work as an engineering technologist.

“There’s fewer courses and less pressure,” says Shortt. “The instructors were so helpful in determining what I needed to be certified. In the classroom, I’m a mom with the kids, but you do what you have to do.”

Coming from Colombia two years ago, Gelver Suarez also expected to be immediately employed as a skilled worker. He knew the seven years he spent studying law back home wouldn’t translate to a career in Canada, but he figured there were other good jobs to be had. He was wrong.

“The recession has changed that situation,” he says. “So I am studying.”

Suarez graduates this month from

Lethbridge College’s Engineering Design and Drafting Technology (EDDT) program after taking the full two-year diploma. Come September, he’ll be back in class, adding a Civil Engineering Technology diploma to his resume. After that, it’s off to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont. to obtain his degree.

“I’ll have two diplomas and more opportunities,” he says.

Suarez’s English was good enough to allow him to start the EDDT program directly. Much of the program involves mathematics and, after all, “3.74” in Spanish is “3.74” in English; it’s also his GPA for the last semester, earning him a letter of congratulations from President Tracy Edwards, the third one he’s received for his academic prowess.

He says his program instructors took the time to guide him through the shoals of language.

“The extra help they gave me was a key point in my success,” he says.

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REGISTER HERE Susie Kennedy torques up student service

Susie Kennedy wants you to register at Lethbridge College.

As the institution’s registrar, she will bring to bear all her skills in customer relations to ensure your trip through the portals of post-secondary education is a pleasant and efficient one.

And, as a former program leader for the college’s Computer Information Technology program, she understands what has to happen on the frontlines and behind the scenes to create a seamless registration process.

“Customer service is what it’s about,” says Kennedy (Business Administration ’87 Honours), now well into her second year in the position. “We know students today are well-informed and they have choices; they can go anywhere they like to get their education, so we have to compete for them.”

That means ramping up service to meet customer expectations with a happy, well-trained staff providing convenience and ease for prospective students. If melding customer service and computer technology to create a user-friendly process sounds revolutionary, Kennedy herself is a “non-traditionalist” in the sense that she has broken a few moulds throughout her career.

“Moving from faculty to administration was a leap of faith for me,” says Kennedy, who took over her position in early 2009 after an innovative turn in the CIT program. “I loved my job and I hadn’t thought of applying; very few registrars come from the faculty side. But then I read the job description during a weekend and had my application in Monday.”

College leadership, including President Tracy Edwards, is pleased she did.

34 • WIDER Horizons/Spring 2010

“Because of her technology background, she absolutely understands effective systems and processes,” says Edwards.

“And, because she has been a faculty member, she appreciates the relationship between academia and the service side.

Finally, and most importantly, she understands what students need and want.”

The sudden change was the jolt Kennedy needs every so often to keep her fresh and invigorated in her job. She came to the college after a successful career at the former Time Air, where she developed a training database and charted on-time performance. When CIT opened up at Lethbridge College, Kennedy was ready for a change.

“The program already had a techie, so I took on the softer side of it,” she says.

The “softer side,” however, still required mental toughness.

Each year, she led groups of four to five second-year students through a dozen live practicum projects, all successfully. That drive and attention to detail has come in useful now that she’s crossed the bridge into administration.

Since February, Lethbridge College has been part of ApplyAlberta, the new province-wide online post-secondary application system. The college also wants to improve the manner in which it communicates with prospective students.

Much of these processes will utilize Kennedy’s IT background, in particular, her expertise with data.

Meanwhile, Kennedy, a believer in lifelong learning, will be working on her doctorate through Aston University in England in work and organizational psychology.

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e n i a t n o il f h p F E I CH E H T O T HAIL Lethbridge College is set to welcome Phil Fontaine, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, to its campus for its aboriginal graduation dinner.

Tracy Edwards, president of Lethbridge College, says Fontaine’s visit is an honour for the college that will underscore the institution’s dedication to its students of aboriginal descent.

“We are very aware Lethbridge College is located in traditional Blackfoot territory and we have long recognized the significance of that location,” says Edwards. “Our mandate is to serve all of southern Alberta, and we are proud of our First Nations learners, many of whom will be receiving their diplomas at convocation.”

Fontaine was an advocate for Aboriginal rights long before his election as chief of the Assembly of First Nations, a position he held for three terms (1997-2000 and 2003-09).

He was appointed special advisor to

RBC last September to provide advice and counsel to RBC's Canadian businesses to help the company deepen its relationships with Aboriginal governments, communities and businesses in Canada.

Fontaine was born on the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba in 1944. He was elected its chief at 28 and still plays an active role in the community. The youngest son in an Ojibway family of 12 children, Fontaine lost his father when he was six. His mother, Agnes, persevered, and although the home lacked electricity and running water, Fontaine remembers it as a place of happiness and love.

That was before he was sent by the government of Canada to the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School, where he experienced racism, sexual and physical abuse. Following his time in the residential school system, he developed an interest in politics, following his mother, the first woman elected to a band council in Canada.

Fontaine was elected as Manitoba regional chief for the AFN, then, in 1991, as grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs for three consecutive terms. He was instrumental in the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord, which would have given special status to Quebec but not to the First Peoples of Canada.

In 2009, Fontaine met with Pope Benedict XVI and won a formal acknowledgement of, and apology for, abuses at church-run government residential schools, one of which he attended as a child, in an effort to aid healing and reconciliation for survivors.

Also last year, Fontaine established Ishkonigan, a consulting and mediation firm that “provides professional management and advisory services to indigenous communities, governments and the private sector.”

Among his many awards are five honorary doctor of laws degrees from Canadian universities.

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‘Bear Trainer’

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Brad Karren guides Kodiaks to glory

Christina Boese Communication Arts ‘08

The echo of bouncing basketballs resounds through the Val Matteotti Gymnasium, a chorus punctuated by the squeal of rubber on hardwood and, occasionally, brought to heel by the maestro’s whistle.

Brad Karren, coach of the Kodiaks women’s basketball team, is running another practice, this time with playoff intensity. His team is in the post-season – again, as it has been year after year since Karren took the coaching helm – and although the ladies haven’t been unbeatable, they’ve nonetheless been formidable opponents for anyone they’ve faced.

Kodiaks basketball has been part of Karren’s life for as long as he can remember. Attending games as a young boy with his father, who was then coach of a sprouting women’s team, had a profound effect on him. Now, as coach of that same team for more than a decade, Karren is carrying on his father’s legacy.

Karren, originally from Magrath, has been head coach of the Kodiaks Women’s basketball team since 1999.

He says he has always had an interest in sports because of his upbringing, and knew he wanted to pursue basketball early on.

“I grew up in that kind of family,” says Karren. “My dad pretty much started up the basketball team here at the college way back in the 60s. That’s how I grew up: coming to games. So, I’ve always been involved.”

After high school, Karren played college basketball for four years, and as time went on, eventually settled into

36 • WIDER Horizons/Spring 2010

coaching. Soon, a coaching position at the college became available, and he has been here ever since.

For years, the Kodiaks have produced winning results. In the 2008-09 season, they spent most of the year ranked first in Canada and came home from the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association national championships with a bronze medal. The team made it to the national championship again this year, and while it didn’t come home with a medal, it kept Kodiaks basketball in the limelight.

“I just know that I like to win and I don’t like losing,” he says. “I try to put good players on the floor all the time, and I’ve recruited really hard over the years to try to get the best players I could. But, most importantly, I had good assistant coaches who were willing to be part of the team and put in an effort. So, if you surround yourself with good people, you’ll do good things.”

Janene Hooper played for Karren from 2005 to 2007, and lauds his ability to work with each player.

“He was an extremely dedicated coach,” says Hooper, now a teacher in Medicine Hat. “He always pushed us to do our best and was always there for us. He has had a successful program for a lot of years and I’m proud to have been a part of that. I had the opportunity to go to nationals twice, and I’ll never forget that experience.”

When hunting for players, Karren looks for the proper drive and the ability to fit into the team dynamic.

“They have to have a desire to play,” he says. “It’s not so much based on just talent or size, because one of my best

players is 5’2”. They know that our team has a certain style, so we look for people that can fit into the program, and not necessarily just the best players.”

Although the Alberta Colleges Athletic Association has chosen Karren its Coach of the Year five times in the last decade, he explains he gets more satisfaction out of the results the team produces.

“There’s no greater reward than seeing what you’ve worked for all year come out to an end and see the goals you’ve accomplished,” says Karren. “I like to win, but it’s the progression of seeing the players evolve from where they started to what they are now. They mature and they get more confident, and that’s what you like to see.”

Although it doesn’t lose often, Karren says the team tries to take each loss as a learning experience.

“Those things are going to happen and you’re never going to be perfect; you’re going to lose games no matter what,” he says. “You try to keep it to a bare minimum.

“We were ranked first in the nation all year last year, and that’s a tough place,” he says. “I’d rather be third, fourth or fifth where you can not be the big target for everyone to beat you. We still have some work to do, but in all reality we’re right on track.”

Karren notes he’s unsure of the future, but knows the team and his years at the college will always be a part of his life.

“I really don’t know what the future’s going to bring, but I’ve been here a long time and I’ll always have the Kodiaks tattooed on my heart.”

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Brad Karren works with Kodiaks guard Molly Harpole.

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College Kudos

Keith Dys, retiring board of Association befo governors chair: re ending After more impact of constru each season with than two years at ction, the president of Leth the helm, m aintenance and op bridge national title. Th Keith Dys is stepp eration e Kodiaks Co ing down llege and as chair of a single-family men's team won of the as chair of the Le re sid en tial the national Alberta Associatio thbridge home using prov championship ag n of College Board of en ain in 2009; Community Colle Governors. sustainable, econ ges and the women's team Dys, founder and omic and was Te owner of chnical Institutes. ac ce ss ibl e se co co I have ns nd tru Enercon Water Tr . Both won the AC ction personally witnes eatment AC practices and tech se team and individu d Tracy's Ltd. along with his nologies. al titles. commitment and wife Ellie, Congratulations Bryan Jeannotte de dic ation has long been a to th e , veteran strong to students, local project’s two lea Lethbridge sports supporter of Leth d faculty, communities and bridge Braum Barber an broadcaster and economic College initiatives d Mark long-time de . He was velopment.”

Bohnert, Enginee member of the Ko appointed to the rin g diaks board in Technologies. family, will be ind late 2002. He wi ucted in the ll be missed Cheryll Oakes, Ja calynne Sp ec ial by his board colle Awards category.

Gl agues and over: Oakes, an Tr ac y Edwards: Leth Early by all at Lethbridg bridge Childhood Educat e College College’s preside Living Home proj ion who have benefit nt was ect: instructor, and Gl ed from his named by the Le over, a Lethbridge College expertise and gu thbridge ’s Living idance.

Nursing Education YW CA in Home won the 20 February as its in 10 Award Southwestern Al 2010 YWCA Wom berta of Recognition fo Lethbridge College an of r Innovation instructor, were Kodiaks Distinction for Co chosen in late January, pa men's cross-coun mmunity rt of re try teams cipients of the Na Co m m itm So en tional ut t. hGrow’s annual Cr The awards from 2005 and 20 eating Institute for Staf 06: These re co gn ize f Op an ou po d tst rtu an two national cham nities Awards. Th ding Organizational De pionship e women who live college shared th ve lop ment’s teams will be ind an d work in e award Excellence in Lear ucted into southern Alberta with its partners, nin g the Lethbridge Sp ; wo men Cedar Leadership Awar orts Hall of who have been tra ds for 2009.

Ridge Quality Ho Fame May 1. Co ilblazers, mes and the ached by Th ey were nominate entrepreneurs, inn City of Lethbridg d by Bertil Johansson, ov at or s, e. The their peers for th already a social advocates eir project combined member of the ha an d faculty outstanding acco ll of fame, volunteers. Said mplishments expertise and stu the teams raced Doug dent to in improving student Ho rn er, de en pu th ty us premier and iasm to create a dominance throug learning, and de hout the minister of Adva monstrating residential home Alberta Colleges nced de sig ned to Athletic m eritorious learning Ed uc ation: “I have kn minimize the envir own onmental leadership that su Tracy in her capa pports the city as college’s values.

38 • WIDER Horizons/Spring 2010

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Krista Albers Business Adm inistration, 2006 Krista completed her Business Administration dip loma with a major in marketi ng and entered the 2+2 program at the University of Leth bridge. She took a semester off to study Spanish in Spain . In 2008, she went on an exch ange program to Ecuador to comp lete her university studie s and graduated in 2009 with a ba chelor of management, wi th an international ma nagement major and a Spanish mi nor. In March she enrolled in a European master’s of mana gement program with a foc us on international bu siness and started her first se mester in Australia. She wi ll finish her master’s in 2011.

Trish (Kadash) Bezborotko Communicatio n Arts, 1991 Trish spent the fir st few years after graduation on the air in Lethbridge, Med icine Hat and Regina at Z99. Af ter several years on air, she moved into public relations in the non-profit world and later int o public affairs with munic ipal government. In ea rly 2004 she

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returned to radio as an advertising cons ultant with Rawlco Radio an d its new venture at that tim e, JACK FM.

Kary (Beacom e) Ehnes Receptionist-S ecretarial, 1980 Getting her certi ficate enabled Kary to gain emplo yment in two vital sectors. She spent 10 years as a secretary in the public school system, an d now works in the gas-and-oil ind sutry as maintenance admi nistration support at Cenovu s Energy Inc. in Calgary.

Mark Elliott Criminal Justice - Policing, 1984 After graduating, Mark worked as a special cons table in Fort Macleod. In 1989 , he joined the York Regional Po lice, went to the Ontario Police Co llege and the Ontario Fire Colle ge, and is now a detective in the criminal investigation unit.

Graham Fawcet t Computer Info rmation Technology, 20 07 Graham is close to completing a bachelor of scien ce at the University of Leth bridge,

majoring in comp uter science.

He completed an internship with David Naylor, Ca nadian coinvestigator for th e SPIRE instrument recen tly launched into space on He rschel. He also completed eight months of internship in Calga ry at Autonomy Syste ms Ltd.

William (Bill) Gordon B.Ed. transfer program, 1966 Bill was in the fir st group of second-year unive rsity transfer students at Lethbr idge College in the 1965-66 acad emic year. He went on to the Un iversity of Alberta and grad uated with a bachelor of educ ation in 1968.

He later did grad uate work at the U of A in counse ling. From 1968 to 1984, he taugh t for Edmonton Public Schools, th en worked as a counselor for Elk Island Public Schools until 20 05. Retired since 2006, he continu es to work for Elk Island as a pa rt-time counselor in its ou treach high schools.

Kenda (Cunni ngham) Owens Interior Desig n, 2001 Kenda is vice-pres ident of public relations for the Interior

ow?

Designers Associa tion of Saskatchewan. Sh e lives in Moose Jaw and tea ches at SIAST in the Architectu ral Technology program.

Crystal Dawn Reid Fish & Wildlife Technology 2003 Since graduation, Crystal, a fish and wildlife techn ologist, has worked with anim als in the United States an d Canada, including cougar s, wolves, caribou, various fish species and two species of ma rmots: Olympic marmots and the endangered Vancouver Islan d marmots.

Since she started working as part of a small team to reintroduce the endangered ma rmots to Vancouver Islan d, their numbers have risen from about 30 in 2003 to some 25 0 today.

Tracy Turk Communicatio n Arts, 1994 Since graduation, Tracy has lived in Yellowknife. Sh e spent eight years with The Ye llowknifer newspaper in ad sales and editorial design.

She is now married with a so n.

Lost: College Alu mni

You’ve likely be en busy with lif e since you graduated from Lethbridge Co lle ge, and we seem have lost your to current contac t information.

Since our first cla ss graduated in 19 58, more than 20 Lethbridge Colle ,000 ge alumni have fo un d rewarding career across North Am s erica and around the world.

We know you’re out there, and we ’d love to know ho been doing since w you’ve your graduation day.

Help us find you, celebrate your su ccesses and fill yo in on alumni bene u fits.

Update your cont act information at lostalumni.ca by 30, 2010, and be June entered into a dr aw for $500.

Become a fan of our Lethbrid ge College Alum Relations Face ni book page and follow us on Twitter.com/L C_Alumni

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