Wider Horizons

We love hearing from Lethbridge College alumni! You can find additional updates online at widerhorizons.ca. To submit your news to share with your classmates and the college community, drop us a note at WHMagazine@lethbridgecollege.ca.

2020

Autumn Jerry

Criminal Justice – Policing

Autumn is a team lead for the Lethbridge Watch Program. The Watch consists primarily of community volunteers who offer services such as safe walks and wellness checks and work with Lethbridge Police, emergency medical services and the fire department. Autumn first joined the program in summer 2019 through a Community Futures Treaty 7 summer student placement program and hopes her work with The Watch will be a step towards her lifelong dream of becoming an RCMP officer in her home community of Siksika Nation in southern Alberta.

 

2019

Ashlee Fath

Practical Nursing

Ashlee tells the Alumni office she passed her practical nursing licensing exam in October of 2019 and has been spending her first year as an LPN nursing through a pandemic.

 

Kelli Ann Hemsing

Geomatics Engineering Technology

Kelli moved to Fredericton, N.B., after graduation and is working as a sensor operator using aerial LiDAR systems for data collection, as well as aerial photography.

 

Britney Ortez

Practical Nursing

Britney is an LPN at Legacy Lodge and St. Therese Villa.

 

Michael Rodriguez

Digital Communications and Media

Michael is a reporter with the Kelowna Capital News in British Columbia. Earlier this year, he won a BC Yukon Community News Media Association (BCYCNA) Ma Murray Award for New Journalist of the Year.

 

Bradley Steinke

Geomatics Engineering Technology

Bradley is working towards a bachelor’s degree in Geomatics with a minor in Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick with the goal of becoming a licensed professional land surveyor in Alberta.

 

2018

Andrea Entz

Agriculture Sciences – Plant and Soil Sciences

Andrea represents a large vegetable processing company and gets to spend time building relationships with growers in her area.

 

Joshua MacKenzie

Digital Communications and Media

Joshua was recently promoted to the manager of the social media marketing department at Artrageous Advertising in Lethbridge where he manages a team of five (including four fellow Lethbridge College grads) and oversees digital marketing strategies for nearly 30 businesses.

 

Brandon McGraw

Digital Communications and Media

Brandon works at the Canalta Centre in Medicine Hat as part of its operations and custodial team. He also volunteers as the production coordinator for the Medicine Hat Cubs Junior B hockey club.

 

Taylor Olenic

Police Cadet Training

Taylor, an officer with the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS), has been selected as the 2020 recipient of the first ever Rookie of the Year Award from Canada’s national law enforcement magazine Blue Line.

The award recognizes promising new officers who are effectively paving the way for the policing of today and tomorrow, and making positive waves among their peers, agencies, communities and beyond. Taylor started his law enforcement career in corrections before signing up for the Police Cadet Training program at Lethbridge College in January 2018. The program is a collaboration between the MHPS and the college that puts cadets through 20-weeks of training designed to meet industry demand for officers who had mastered both hard skills, such as firearms use, and soft skills, such as interpersonal communication, ethical accountability and teamwork.

Taylor told Blue Line the program was tough, but ultimately rewarding. “I didn’t know if I would have a job at the end of it, so I was really pushing myself to the max to prove myself to such an amazing organization. Finally receiving that offer from Chief [Andy] McGrogan was just absolutely phenomenal after working so hard.” Taylor officially joined the MHPS in June 2018 and quickly impressed his peers and superiors with his energy, leadership and ability to build relationships in the community. When he’s not on the beat, Taylor keeps busy as the father of two young children as well as in the community coaching hockey and baseball.

 

Eric Porter

General Studies student

Eric was chosen to represent the Yukon as an apprentice coach at the Canada Games through the 2021 Canada Games Aboriginal Apprentice Coaches Program (AACP). A former Kodiaks soccer player who currently works for the non-profit Yukon Aboriginal Sports Circle, Eric will head to the Niagara region for the games next summer to work with the Yukon’s soccer team and gain valuable experience through mentorship and exposure to a high-profile multi-sport event.

 

2017

Meghan Knapton

Natural Resource Compliance

Meghan is a waste diversion technician with the City of Lethbridge.

 

Jonathan Schultz

Natural Resource Compliance

Jonathan is working in Mackenzie, B.C., fulltime, protecting B.C.’s natural resources by helicopter, snowmobile, ATV and vehicle patrols.

 

Adam Tremblay

Digital Communications and Media

Adam is a communications and marketing officer with Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools.

 

2016

Katelyn Wilson

Digital Communications and Media

Katelyn, a reporter with Global Regina, was part of the team that won a 2020 Radio Television Digital News Association Dan McArthur Award for in-depth/investigative reporting for a multiplatform coverage investigation into tainted water in Saskatchewan. The year-long project was a joint investigation involving nine universities and 10 media outlets, including Global News, the University of Regina School of Journalism and the Regina Leader-Post.

 

2015

Cody Adams

Agricultural Technology – Animal Science

Since graduating, Cody took part in the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) Mentorship Program, which provides industry-specific training and interest-specific mentorship for young members of the cattle industry. He also started his own cattle operation, Bar A Cattle Co., consisting of Red and Black Angus.

 

Shyniaya Duffy

Engineering Design and Drafting Technology

After graduation, Shyniaya went on to get a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from Dalhousie University, where she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in architecture.

 

Rachel CrowSpreadingWings

Broadcast Journalism

Rachel joined the CTV Winnipeg team as an anchor this summer 2020. Rachel has worked as an on-air talent in media since 2016. Her past roles include anchoring, in-studio/ live reporting, and producing. Before joining CTV Winnipeg, Rachel worked for CityNews Winnipeg and an ABC/FOX affiliate in Great Falls, Mont. Rachel produced her own TV show in Lethbridge, before returning to broadcasting school as a single parent of two boys. In 2014, she won the Alberta Equity Scholarship from the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. Outside of work, Rachel is interested in fashion design (Aapunii Creations), singing, and her traditional Indigenous background. Rachel is a member of Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta, which is part of the Blackfoot Confederacy.

 

Natalie Dufresne

Nursing

Natalie works in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Chinook Regional Hospital. In addition to working as an ICU nurse, she has returned to her Lethbridge College roots as a clinical instructor. “I really love to be challenged,” she says. “Things change every hour, so we have to be very resilient and adapt very quickly, which isn’t always easy. But it’s a part of my career and a part of my art of adapting to the world of health and wellness.”

 

David Opinko

Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism

Since graduating, David has worked at radio stations in Dauphin, Man.; Cranbrook, B.C.; and Lethbridge, which has allowed him to travel the country, meet interesting people and refine his skills along the way.

 

2014

Shelby Craig

Communication Arts – Print Journalism

After a journalism career that took her from Edson to Lacombe, Shelby joined the Town of Blackfalds as an administrative assistant with the Community Services Department in 2017. In 2020, she started a new role with the town’s communications department.

 

Emilee Kaupp

Civil Engineering Technology

After graduating in 2014, Emilee became a member of the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET). This past spring, she was elected to the ASET council, becoming one of the youngest members in its 60-year history. Just 12 per cent of ASET’s members are women, and Emilee hopes her story can encourage other young women and girls to consider a career in civil engineering. Emilee is currently the project onsite resident for the University Drive Twinning Project, which includes the expansion of one of the primary roads on Lethbridge’s west side.

Photo courtesy Global News

 

2014

Stacey Parker

Communication Arts – Print Journalism

In 2017, Stacey became a photographer onboard a cruise ship and has been travelling the world for the last three years, visiting more than 60 countries.

 

Ainsley Sauter

Communication Arts – Advertising and Public Relations

After graduation, Ainsley moved to Kenosee Lake, a small village in southeast Saskatchewan, where she went to work at the local newspaper, the Carlyle Observer. Later she took on a role in the administration office of Moose Mountain Provincial Park where she is now the park administrative supervisor.

“I am the supervisor for six entry gate staff and a park clerk, I manage the office, handle HR tasks, purchases and invoices and assist the park manager in tracking and projecting the park’s budget,” she told the Alumni office. “I absolutely love my job and I still find that I use many of the skills that I learned at Lethbridge College both in my professional and personal life.”

 

2013

Cianna Lyon

Communications Arts

This year, Cianna joined the City of Lethbridge’s department of Community and Social Development.

 

Stefanie McKim

Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism

Stefanie was recently named executive director of Prairie Fusion Arts and Entertainment centre in Portage la Prairie, Man.

 

2012

Royal Adkin

Professional Golf Management

After graduating from the college, Royal went on to attend the University of Lethbridge and recently graduated with a management degree. He’s now an account executive for the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group in Lethbridge.

 

Alexandra Kulas

Business Administration – Marketing

Alexandra started her own digital marketing firm, Simplified Social, which has just launched a new venture, SocialU, which started offering online social media courses this summer.

 

Claire McFee

Renewable Resource Management

After graduation, Claire attended the University of Alberta and obtained her degree in land reclamation in 2015. She has worked in the consulting industry as a soil specialist/scientist ever since.

 

Alexander Milton

Criminal Justice – Policing

After completing his recruit training, Alexander was posted to the Yorkton detachment of the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol before transferring to the Saskatoon detachment. He was recently promoted to district enforcement supervisor, a role in which he oversees several officers and multiple detachments.

 

2009

Quinn Ohler

Communication Arts – Broadcast Journalism

Quinn sent the Alumni office this update: “I started my career working at CJOC in Lethbridge as the promotions assistant driving around the station vehicle promoting our station at local events and then worked as an anchor and reporter for the news department there. At the same time, I started working at Global Lethbridge as a video journalist and was most proud of a piece I did on local volunteer firefighters and the stresses they face on the job when they often know the people whose emergencies they are attending. I also was the fortunate winner of the Troy Reeb Distinguished Alumni Internship, where I took part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience at Global Toronto and Global National.

In 2011, I moved to Global Edmonton where I’ve been working as a reporter/anchor for nearly a decade. I’ve covered some of the biggest events in Alberta and Canada, from the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, Fort McMurray wildfires and every municipal, provincial and federal election in between for Global Edmonton, local stations across the country and Global National. At the same time, it’s offered me the opportunity to work with dozens of organizations in the province including some very close to my heart, including the Alberta Diabetes Foundation and women’s shelters throughout the capital region.

Now, I will take on the greatest adventure, becoming a mom (due August 2020) knowing that my education will help me to multi-task, raise a family and still be able to do my job as a journalist. I can’t believe it’s been so long since I walked through the doors as a scared student at Lethbridge College in the Communication Arts program!”

 

2008

Trevor Busch

Communication Arts – Print Journalism

After a 12-year run with the Alberta Newspaper Group, Trevor has been named editor of the Westwind Weekly News.

 

Darren Stark

Business Administration – Marketing

Darren has a sweet job as district sales manager with the Hershey chocolate company.

 

2006

Tyler Riewe

Environmental Assessment and Restoration

Tyler told the Alumni office that he has recently returned home to Alberta after a career in the environmental and energy sector that has taken him across three continents.

 

2005

Kristen Hasse

Nursing

Kristen is an assistant professor in Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan, where her research focuses on supporting older adults with cancer and their caregivers, specifically those managing multiple chronic diseases alongside cancer. She intends to continue building her research in this area, both in Canada and internationally.

 

Bryce Nugent

Business Administration – Marketing

In addition to working as vice president of sales and marketing at Triple M Housing in Lethbridge, Bryce is a father of two and an active member of the local hockey, hiking and mountain biking communities.

 

2003

Christina Metke

Renewable Resource Management

After completing her diploma, Christina obtained a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Lethbridge. In 2013, she started her own independent environmental consulting firm, which provides ecological (vegetation and wetland), botanical, regulatory permitting, training/mentoring, and technical reporting services.

 

2000

Craig Slater

Communication Arts – Print Journalism

After working 15 years as a reporter in daily newspapers, Craig switched to public relations in 2016. He’s also a freelance reporter with The Canadian Press, covering the CFL and Saskatchewan Roughriders since 2013.

 

1998

Sharon Lawson

Information Specialist (Office Assistant)

If the answer is a Lethbridge College alum who had the experience of a lifetime when she appeared on the game show Jeopardy!, the question is “Who is Sharon Lawson.”

“It was, hands down, the coolest thing I have ever done in my life,” Sharon told Wider Horizons of her experience as a contestant on the long-running game show. “I generally hate being photographed and am very uncomfortable being on camera, so I tell people that day didn’t just push me out of my comfort zone, it drop-kicked me off the thousand-foot cliff of my comfort zone!”

Major highlights for Sharon, who works in administrative support in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Lethbridge, included getting to travel to Los Angeles and meeting fellow Canadian and long-time host Alex Trebek. “Alex was very nice in person and looked really good considering what he’s been dealing with health-wise [Trebek is fighting Stage 4 pancreatic cancer],” says Sharon. “We chatted about being Canadian, in addition to the two post-first-commercial chats we had (one about me discovering my birth family and one about my leash-trained cat) – and he was very easy to talk to and not intimidating at all. I think absolutely everyone in the audience had a bit of a crush on him!”

Sharon put together a two-day run on the popular contest back in February, and when the episodes aired in April, she could publicly celebrate winning her debut and pulling in a total of $26,001. “I am so lucky to have had that whole experience work out the way it did – I got the call on Jan. 27 based on my very first audition and taped in L.A on Feb. 18 and 19. If it had been a couple of weeks later, I would have had to go alone as they stopped taping in front of a studio audience. As it was, three of my friends were able to join me, so I had a bit of an entourage and we had a few great days checking out Los Angeles. The stars were really in alignment for me and the Jeopardy! dream!”

 

1996

Tara Grindle

Multimedia Production

Tara has been manager of Corporate Strategic Communications with the City of Lethbridge since 2015. “I love my job celebrating the great things in our community and informing residents on things that impact their daily lives.”

 

1995

Jock McDowell

Criminal Justice

After graduating from Lethbridge College, Jock started his career as a correctional officer with the Saskatoon Correctional Service in 1999. Today he is a deputy director with the Saskatoon Provincial Correctional Centre. “The Criminal Justice program gave me an excellent head start during the recruit training program and was a great stepping point for continued learning throughout my career.”

 

1994

Sandra Davidson

Nursing

Sandra has served in a wide range of academic and practice environments in both the United States and Canada over the past 15 years. She earned her PhD in in Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University in 2011 and currently serves as Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary, where she continues to inspire students who go on to form the backbone of the province’s health care system.

 

1993

Martina Emard

Communication Arts – Advertising and Public Relations

Martina tells the Alumni office that she is “currently teaching in the program that got me started in industry! Before that I worked at various newspapers, magazines and publishing companies doing graphic design and production management.”

 

Deanne Lueck

Renewable Resource Management

This June, Deanne found herself at the centre of a real-life treasure hunt. While working as a groundskeeper at the college during her time as a student in the early 1990s, Deanne lost the high school class ring that marked her graduation from Edson’s Parkland Composite High School. A 41-year-old amateur metal detector, Landen Harker, uncovered the ring this summer on a search of Lethbridge College grounds. Harker posted his find on social media and word of the find soon reached Deanne. Now the two are making arrangements to get the ring back onto Deanne’s hands. “It was a little bit of a challenge or a puzzle to figure out but I’m so glad he did,” Deanne told CBC News. “It was really nice of him and I’m grateful for that.”

 

Shelli Sannes

Communication Arts – Print Journalism

Shelli is a senior quality assurance engineer for NTI, an IT company in San Diego, Calif.

 

1991

Douglas Barker

Recreation and Leisure Services

Doug is President of Park Derochie Coatings in Saskatchewan and Vice-President of PD Canada Inc.

 

1986

Judy Stolk Ingram

Rehabilitation Services

Judy Stolk Ingram found her path at Lethbridge College. Ever since, she’s dedicated her career to helping others find theirs.

Since 2013, Stolk Ingram has been executive director of the Chinook Regional Foundation for Career Transitions, a Lethbridge not-for-profit organization that works with high school students across southwest Alberta to explore their career options. “I got my start at the college working with people with special needs and challenges,” she tells Wider Horizons. “I was fortunate to have exceptional instructors, to be able to develop a range of skills, get the opportunities to put them into practice and see what direction I wanted to pursue. I tell people that I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of my two-year diploma!”

As executive director, Stolk Ingram oversees career development activities and programming including large scale events like EPIC (Exploring Possible Industries and Careers), an annual post-secondary fair and job shadowing opportunities. “Everything we do is about giving [students] a chance to explore career options, to give them a glimpse of what’s out there, compare their options and make an informed choice about their next steps after high school,” she explains.

Since 2001, Career Transitions’ flagship event has been the annual Southwest Regional Skills Competition, held in partnership with Lethbridge College and Skills Canada Alberta. This event, one of nine regional events held throughout Alberta, typically brings more than 100 students to the college campus to showcase their skills in trades and promote trades and technology careers. However, this year’s competition, scheduled for April 4, was cancelled due to COVID-19, leaving Stolk Ingram and her organization looking for ways to fill the void. “We can’t replace the real-life experience, so we’re trying to figure out what we can do to provide the best possible experience given the circumstances,” she said. “We’re exploring ways to put more resources online and host a variety of online career exploration groups for students.”

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to cause job losses and economic uncertainty, Stolk Ingram says it’s important to continue to provide young people with career exploration opportunities and help prepare them build a career that they can be proud of. “There’s a place for everybody and the more we can help students to find their place in the world of work, the stronger our community will be.”

 

1984

Mark Elliott

Criminal Justice – Policing

Mark spent four years in Fort Macleod as a special constable and 30 years with York Regional Police before retiring in 2018. He told the Alumni office: “Lethbridge College set me up for a great career in law enforcement. Thank you.”

 

1979

David Ewart

Environmental Science

David told the Alumni office that he spent his career working on the Quinsam River in Campbell River, B.C., as the watershed enhancement manager for Fisheries and Oceans Canada’ Salmon Enhancement Program until his retirement in 2014. Now he provides technical support to small projects on Vancouver Island on a contract basis.

 

1975

Diane Shanks

Nursing

Diane is back in the emergency room as a nurse after retiring from a long career as an administrator with the Chinook Regional Hospital in 2017. She has also played an advisory role in post-secondary nursing education in Southern Alberta, sitting as an alumni representative on the Nursing Education in Southwestern Alberta (NESA) Advisory Committee. In this role, she has been able to contribute to the design and development of nursing education and provide feedback on current heath practice environment challenges.

 

1974

Barbara Duckworth

Journalism

After a decades long career that included a bumper crop of stories from the agriculture field, Lethbridge College alum Barbara Duckworth has retired. Duckworth, who was the college’s 2018 Distinguished Alumni Career Virtuoso Award recipient, stepped down in March after 32 years as Calgary bureau chief for The Western Producer and a career spent developing a reputation as an expert in agriculture and livestock production.

After graduating from Lethbridge College’s journalism program in 1974, Duckworth was able to travel and report on world, covering droughts, floods and the 2003 BSE crisis that rocked the cattle industry. Along the way she received national and international industry awards, contributed to countless freelance projects and became a sought-after public speaker. She also watched with mounting concern the transformation of the journalism profession. “I feel like the profession is in a transition phase,” says Duckworth. “There is still a need for trained journalists who can provide analysis and filter out the noise, especially in the age of social media and a landscape full of unverified materials.”

Though she’s retired, Duckworth isn’t ready to go out to pasture yet. “I thought I’d miss [working] more, but I’m a busy person,” she told Wider Horizons. “I’ve been taking classes in Roman history at the University of Calgary and my husband and I were supposed to go to Europe for six weeks, but we had to cancel. To me, retirement is just a passage into a new set of activities.”

 

1972

Terry Vogt

Radio Arts

This June, CTV Lethbridge news director Terry Vogt received a lifetime achievement award from the Radio Television Digital News Association. Terry, who was named Lethbridge College’s 2011 Distinguished Alumnus, has spent more than five decades in the broadcast industry in southern Alberta.

Terry started his career in 1972 as a DJ at a small station in Crowsnest Pass, before transitioning into news reporting. He joined CTV Lethbridge when the station first went to air in 1984, and he has grown and evolved with the station ever since to become one of the most trusted news voices in southern Alberta.

Terry remains connected to Lethbridge College through the mentoring of practicum students, and he has, in the past, taught in the Broadcast Journalism program and been a member of the Communication Arts Advisory Committee, helping to ensure it remains of the highest calibre. He is, by his example, one of the program’s best ambassadors.

“This Lifetime Achievement Award is a reflection of the countless people in the industry who have openly shared their knowledge, passion and joy for broadcasting, beginning with some amazing instructors at Lethbridge College,” Terry told Wider Horizons. “Teachers such as Ian Mandin and Georgia Fooks were humorous, enthusiastic, inspiring and kind. They were story tellers, whose eyes lit up when they spoke, and I quickly discovered broadcasting was not just a job, but a treasured experience!”

Wider Horizons
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