SCWEA Award of Excellence
Gordon Heidel and Brian Shankowsky were presented with SCWEA Awards of Excellence at this year’s SCWEA conference, in recognition of their work and dedication towards the goal of establishing an industry education council in the Regina region. The Regina District Industry Education Council (RDIEC) office was established in October of 2013 along with a fourteen-member board with equal representation from industry and education. Six RDIEC programs were established in 2013-14 reaching almost 3400 students directly, while partnering with 53 outside organizations and resulting in over 1400 in-kind hours of direct student contact time by industry. Their passion and dedication to facilitating career development opportunities and career education activities for students is obvious when you meet them. Congratulations!
It is my pleasure to present the SCWEA Award of Excellence to Paul Blankestijn. Paul began working with apprenticeship in August of 2008, as a SYA Liaison Officer and is the Youth Apprenticeship Manager. I think one his first presentations, was for me when I was a consultant with Regina Public School Division. He has been a true champion of the Saskatchewan Youth Apprenticeship program and his passion for helping students to find their way comes across in every presentation. Congratulations Paul and thank you for your contributions!
Friends of SCWEA Award
Submitted by Leanne Merkowsky
The Partnership is comprised of numerous community organizations including: Living Sky School Division, North West Regional College, Light of Christ School Division, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, City of North Battleford, North West School Division, BATC Community Development Corporation, Prairie North Health Region and Battlefords Chamber of Commerce. Its mandate is to establish and strengthen partnerships among high schools, post secondary institutions, local businesses, aboriginal organizations and industry. These partners share a common goal, which is to encourage active participation from the business community in the career development of all youth in the northwest region.
They firmly believe that it is through the aligning of employers, employees and educators that a skilled, highly trained, motivated and mutually understanding workforce can be created, which in turn, enhances workplace retention, re-energizes the economy and provides opportunities for youth. It has been the partnership’s mission to facilitate positive student and community reinforcement for the future of local employment to ease the transition between the academic and vocational environments.
Projects range from Try-A-Trade which provides hands-on opportunities for students to ‘try’ the trades, a spotlight on forestry with a tour of three northern mills to explore the wealth of job opportunities that exist in the industry, exploration in manufacturing and an interactive entrepreneurship workshop for students which highlights local businesspersons and provides opportunities for students to find mentors and create business plans. The partnership also enhances the local job shadow program by making contact with employers, promoting the program and providing educators with listings of possible placements.
The NWCDP’s hard work in planning student events and increasing public awareness of career options and training opportunities is greatly appreciated. They have been an integral part of school programs for many years, and we hope to share yet many more years with them. It is for this reason, that they have been chosen as this year’s recipients of the “Friends of SCWEA” award.
Thank you for all that you do!
Thank you Westeel for all you do!