A Global Community – a Click Away
Lethbridge College’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Education instructors realize that it takes a village to raise a child, especially when it comes to children with FASD. But sometimes – because of isolation, work hours, being homebound and more – it’s just not possible to connect with the village resources and find support.
That’s why Kimber Norbury-Sulin (Rehabilitation Services ‘92), the college’s coordinator of FASD Education, proposed the idea of a Virtual Community of Practice to provide networking opportunities and access to round-the-clock resources for those who live and work with FASD.
“We want to connect our online students to each other and to create opportunity for these connections between urban and rural community partners, caregivers, other research institutions, and service providers,” says Norbury-Sulin.
With support from the School of Human Service, Norbury-Sulin turned to the college’s Educational Enhancement Team to build the website. A $9,700 grant from the Alberta Rural Development Network allowed for a gathering this spring to officially launch the site and to discuss its role in helping connect people in rural communities.
“This online community was something I’ve wanted access to for years so I’m very grateful to this team for building it,” says Terry Gills of central Alberta. “We live FASD daily and I need all the supports I can access.”
Marilyn Leiterman of Ontario, a 2010 FASD Education alum and continuing student in the Disability and Community Rehabilitation program, agrees that the website is a welcome addition. “The more people there are to talk to, the more we can cope, plan and support our wonderful persons living with FASD,” she says.
Lethbridge College Students Head to Uganda for Work Experience
Students in the college’s Child and Youth Care program will take their classroom on the road in May as they travel to villages in Uganda to see how child care services can be developed and delivered in rural areas.
The Child and Youth Care program has facilitated an International Study Tour over the past several years to show students how services are delivered outside of Canada. Past tours have included trips to Holland, England, Wales and Scotland. This year, the students will be traveling in Uganda from May 1 to 12. The Child and Youth Care program has partnered with an organization called Buiga-Sunrise which provides education, health and family support services to villages in the Mukono District of Uganda. They work in the village of Banda Kyandaaza and provide outreach to more than 800 people in surrounding villages.
One of the founders and now director of Buiga-Sunrise is a 1998 graduate of the Child and Youth Care program at Lethbridge College, Nicole Van Seters. Look for information in the next Wider Horizons about the students’ trip. They will be learning how community development projects can be mobilized to enable communities to help themselves. Child and youth care in developing countries often reflects a community development perspective that practitioners in child and youth care in Canada don’t necessarily experience.
The college’s program plans to continue to offer opportunities for students to experience child and youth care practice in different countries and cultures.
Alberta Business Deans and Students Convene at College
The brightest minds in business met at Lethbridge’s two post-secondary institutions in March to discuss the future of business education and solve some real world problems.
Lethbridge College co-hosted the seventh annual Alberta Deans of Business Case Competition with the University of Lethbridge Faculty of Management March 15 and 16. This event brought teams of Alberta’s best business students and deans of the province’s business schools to Lethbridge, where the deans held their annual spring meeting and students immersed themselves in a case study requiring them to develop solutions for real world business problems.
The event showcased business programs and opportunities at the college and university. Dennis Sheppard, Dean of Applied Management at Lethbridge College, said the competition “brought together the best business students in the province who will get great hands-on experience solving the kind of problem facing real businesses today. Like much of the work we do at the college, the Case Competition is a chance to put theory into practice.”
The teams were given the challenge of coming up with a business plan based on specific information provided about a fictional cabinet-making company. First place went to the Medicine Hat College team, which received $4,000. NAIT finished second and received $2,500 while Lakeland College came in third and went home with an award of $1,500. Lethbridge College and SAIT received honourable mentions.
Lethbridge College Takes Training to New Heights
New technologies demand new responses for health and safety – and Lethbridge College is leading the way.
Already an established Canadian educational institution for workers in wind and solar energy industries, Lethbridge College now can offer training for those called upon to rescue and evacuate people who might be injured while working on a wind turbine or any structure above 10 feet.
Six Lethbridge College Wind Turbine instructors have recently trained with ENSA, which provides safety training within the wind industry throughout North America. The instructors worked with ENSA trainers practicing high angle rescue techniques and training – called Tractel training – and then learned how to teach others the same important safety lessons.
The group spent nearly one day learning teaching techniques and also got to try out different kinds of equipment. The six instructors will be able to integrate new techniques and equipment into college wind turbine courses. Before they even signed up for the training, Ronald Papp, an instructor in the Wind Turbine Technician Training Program, said that the college had received multiple inquiries from industry into training for high angle rescue and high voltage awareness.
Operation Beautiful at Lethbridge College
Lethbridge College encouraged staff and students to celebrate their natural sizes during Eating Disorder Awareness Week in February.
This awareness week is an annual event around the world that works to educate the public on the relationship between dieting, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. The goal is to increase awareness of the factors causing individuals to develop anorexia, bulimia and weight preoccupation.
The week encouraged people to move away from one narrow ideal of beauty to healthy lifestyles and a celebration of natural diversity. This allows people to accept their bodies, get beyond appearance, and concentrate on putting their energies into enjoying their lives. During the week of Operation Beautiful, the campus community was also encouraged to leave positive affirmations on post-it notes promoting beauty from within throughout campus. The notes could be found all throughout the campus.
Healthy Lifestyles at Heart of New Program
This winter, the Be Fit for Life Centre took part in an innovative program called MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition…Do It!).
This community program empowers families of children who are above a healthy body weight to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles. MEND originated in the United Kingdom and multiple trials have shown positive results in the health and wellness of the children and families who participate.
Alberta Health Services supports MEND with grant opportunities to communities and organizations that take part in it, including the college’s Be Fit for Life Centre. Fourteen families with children above a healthy body weight were welcomed into the college to participate in the program this year. During the 10-week program, the families learned about many elements of healthy living in an interactive and fun way. Be Fit for Life will continue to run MEND in the future. Those interested in participating should call 403-320- 3202 X5379.
Tiffin Conference presents “Cattle Gate to Dinner Plate”
Speakers at January’s Tiffin Conference at Lethbridge College discussed the livestock industry from the feedlots to the kitchen before a sold-out crowd.
The event featured keynote speaker Temple Grandin, a well-known autism advocate and a designer of livestock handling facilities and a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Grandin presented on taking a practical approach to improving animal welfare. Other speakers discussed feed efficiency and the benefits of residual feed intake and the umami method of cooking beef and enhancing that savoury flavour.
The Tiffin Conference is made possible through the Ronald Tiffin Agricultural Endowment Fund, established in honour of Ronald W. Tiffin. The goal is to provide world-class learning opportunities to primary producers, agri-business and agriculture students.
College Pays it Forward throughout the Year
Did you know you can support student scholarships and have a chance to win more than $1,000 each month?
Members of the Office of Alumni Relations and Advancement choose one winner each month for its “Pay It Forward” draw. So far, the 50-50 style lottery has raised more than $60,000 for student scholarships and allowed more than staff, students, alumni, and community members to experience the thrill of unexpected cash.
The program started in February 2008 following the suggestion of one of the college’s Alumni Advisory Council members, Randi Knutson. The Pay it Forward program is open to staff, students, alumni and the community. Stop by the Office of Alumni Relations in CE2323 (Advancement Office) or call 403.329.7220 to buy a one-time $10 draw ticket, sign up for more than one draw at a time ($120 for the whole year), or sign up to have $10 deducted from your Lethbridge College paycheque every month. Community members are also encouraged to participate. For more information, call the Alumni Office – 403.329.7220 or email [email protected].
Leo Club makes donation to Accessibility Services
A donation by Lethbridge College’s Leo Club changed the lives of students using Accessibility Services.
The club donated two iPod Touches and a $200 iTunes gift card last fall. Coupled with specific applications, the Touches are used by students who need more assistance in their courses. The donation of equipment was of immediate benefit to current students and serves as a tool for making education accessible for many years and students to come.
The Leo Club is a volunteer organization comprised of students from the Criminal Justice program at the college. The club volunteers for many events at the college and within the community. Any donations made to the club are donated at the end of the year.
