The building site on the south side of campus is in a state of constant motion these days. In October, a visit would have 
revealed a host of workers focused on structural steel and heavy timber framing, electrical work, masonry and mechanical work, site paving, and more. It’s an exciting place to be – and made all the more impressive when you realize so many Lethbridge College alumni are among the tradespeople working on the site.
This discovery came as we looked ahead and considered how to cover a three-year building project in the magazine, keeping it interesting season after season, year after year. In the end, our decision of how to cover it came down to the people. We figured with so many people working on the new trades and technologies building, surely some of them must be our grads. And wouldn’t it be cool to feature our grads working on the grounds of our new building?
Check out the last two pages of this issue of Wider Horizons and you’ll get your first glimpse into what we discovered. Our grads are, in fact, significant contributors to the work being done on our new trades and technologies facility. At one point in September, all three supervisors on the building site were alumni, and about 20 per cent of the tradespeople were grads as well. We value and are appreciative of all of the workers who are making our plans for an energy-efficient, flexible and environmentally-sustainable building a reality. And we’re especially proud of those workers who learned their trades at Lethbridge College. We will continue to feature them on the last two pages in every issue between now and the fall of 2017, when the building opens its doors to 2,300 students who want to learn skilled trades or enrol in existing and emerging technology programs. Who knows what new buildings these students will create.
This issue of Wider Horizons features all kinds of examples of collaboration, whether it’s between alumni and the college, between students and staff, or between the college and the community. You can read about members of the Kodiaks athletic teams who are giving back to the community, alumni who generously give their time and expertise to current students, and much, much more.
There’s another kind of collaboration featured in this issue – that of two individuals who wanted to contribute to the college in a meaningful and enduring way. Lloyd and Dorothy Mueller’s historic gift of $3.1 million to Lethbridge College, which was announced in October, will support extensive collaboration through the years in the areas of applied research in agriculture and irrigation. The college is grateful for the Muellers’ investment in the work we are doing and the work that will be made possible in the future thanks to their generosity.
As always – thanks for reading Wider Horizons. We appreciate your collaboration as well.
P.S. Don’t forget that you’re welcome to drop us a note at [email protected] if you’d like to comment on any of the stories or photos in this issue. We’d love to hear from you.
