Rebels guard Abby Silva accepts her MVP award from RRC Athletics Director Ryan Ratushniak on Friday.

It was an uphill battle until the very end, but both the men’s and women’s Rebels basketball teams emerged victorious over the weekend, clinching their respective top spots at the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) Final Four Championships.

The Rebels men’s team entered the tournament — held Friday and Saturday at Red River College — as the #3 seed, while the women’s team was ranked #2 going in.

For the Rebels men, the win represents their fourth straight MCAC basketball title. This might have been their toughest test, though, as they upset the #1-seeded (and winner of 12 straight games), Canadian Mennonite University Blazers.

The Rebels women, meanwhile, employed full-court defense and a quick offense to defeat the #4-seed Providence University College, who had knocked off the juggernaut #1 College Wesmen on Friday. Read More →

Red River College grad Scott Brown (Creative Communications, 1998), has been named Manitoba Communicator of the Year by the provincial chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society.

Brown, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for True North Sports & Entertainment, will receive the award at a special luncheon on March 27, 2012, at the Hotel Fort Garry.

Though he’s been with True North since 2004, Brown recently found himself at the centre of the biggest local news story of 2011 — the triumphant return of the Winnipeg Jets. He and his communications team (which includes fellow CreComm grads Kalen Qually and Christina Caligiuri) played a crucial role in both the high-profile announcement and the ensuing strategic rollout, which covered everything from the new logo to uniforms, team name to ticket purchases.

“There’s no question that a great deal of rehearsal, planning, strategizing and thought had to happen behind the scenes,” said Siobhan Kari, president of CPRS Manitoba. “The media attention on the return of the Jets was enormous — locally, nationally and internationally — and the pressures to meet all requests must have been daunting. Yet it was all handled professionally.”

CPRS Manitoba received two separate nominations to acknowledge Brown with the award, which honours individuals or organizations that have demonstrated excellence in public communications.

“It was indeed a tremendous challenge to bring the NHL back to Manitoba’s passionate hockey fans, not only on the communications front, but in all areas,” Brown said. “We have been overwhelmed by the public’s support of the team and the organization, from the ‘Drive to 13,000’ to the unveiling of the logo and jersey, to the vocal presence at not only every home game, but games away from the MTS Centre, as well. The return of the NHL has truly been a community success.”

Click here for more information on the Creative Communications program at RRC.

Red River College returned to China this month, to further expand the scope of its international reach via partnership agreements with a number of post-secondary institutions.

Between Feb. 19th and 22nd, 2012, representatives from RRC signed partnership agreements with Shijiazhuang University of Economics (SUE) in Hebei, China; Qingdao Technical College (QTC) in Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone; and Zhejiang Water Conservancy and Hydropower College (ZJWCHC) in Zhejiang Province.

Representatives at SUE have already expressed interest in RRC’s Applied Accounting and Business programs, while QTC has expressed interest in the College’s Early Childhood Education program.

Last year, RRC signed a similar agreement with Henan Business College (HBC) in Zhengzhou, China, in which HBC students would take two years of Hotel Management courses in China, and a third year at RRC.

Click here to learn more about opportunities for international students at Red River College.

It’s been a whirlwind two months for Red River College grad Lisanne Pajot (Creative Communications, 2003), whose debut documentary Indie Game: the Movie won the World Cinema Documentary Best Editing Prize at last month’s Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Directed and produced by Pajot and James Swirsky (shown above), the film chronicles the world of independent video game developers, and has drawn rave reviews from critics across North America since it bowed at the Park City fest in January. Read More →

Photo courtesy Metro Winnipeg.

A student from Red River College’s Creative Communications program has written a book exploring the fatal blaze that claimed the lives of two veteran Winnipeg fire captains in 2007.

This weekend, second-year student Lindsey Enns will launch Black Fire, an exploration of the deaths of Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) captains Tom Nichols and Harold Lessard, who were killed after they became trapped on the second floor of a burning home in St. Boniface.

Enns has been working on the book since June, and completed it as part of a year-long project required for graduation. The subject is one with which she’s intimately familiar: Enns’ father is a fellow WFPS captain, who was originally scheduled to work the same shift as his fallen comrades. Read More →

A team of Red River College students picked up a pair of awards this month at the Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race in Calgary.

The annual celebration of innovation and engineering spirit draws teams of post-secondary students from all over Canada. Entrants must design and construct a five-person toboggan with a roll bar (capable of withstanding an upset at 75-km/hour), and a running surface composed entirely of concrete, while maintaining a total weight of less than 300 pounds.

All toboggans are subject to a safety inspection before being raced, and are judged on the basis of their concrete, frame, steering and brake design, as well as race-day results, team spirit, and a host of other criteria.

This year’s event was held Feb. 8-11, 2012, in Calgary. The eight-member RRC squad — comprised of students from Construction Management, Municipal Engineering Technology, Business Administration, and Industrial Arts — won the Green Team Award for most sustainable design, and was also named Most Improved Team. Read More →

RRC President Stephanie Forsyth (third from right), with some of the RRC students and instructors who will assemble a 1933 Modified Ford to be raffled off later this year.

There’s nothing that looks better in your garage than a classic car.

Skills Canada Manitoba has paired up with long-time partner Red River College to build a 1933 Modified Ford that will be raffled off later this year to raise money for young Manitoba students and apprentices who are pursuing training and accreditation in skilled trades and technology areas.

Read More →

Local wine expert Gary Hewitt (third from left), with (from left) Graham Thompson, Dean of Business and Applied Arts at RRC; RRC President Stephanie Forsyth; Banville & Jones President Tina Jones, and RRC Hospitality Chair John Reimers.

Local wine expert Gary Hewitt will soon be heading Down Under to learn more about the Australian wine industry, having won a prestigious scholarship rewarding achievement in wine studies throughout the world.

Hewitt, the senior buyer and educator at Banville & Jones Wine Co., graduated last month with the prestigious Diploma in Wines and Spirits from the London, England-based Wine and Spirit Education Trust© (WSET©). Even more impressive, Hewitt is the Canadian recipient of the Wines of Australia Scholarship, an expenses-paid study trip to Australia for the five highest-performing international graduates from mainland Europe, Canada, U.S.A., Ireland and Asia Pacific.

“Wine knowledge is extremely valuable in today’s market,” says Tina Jones, president of Banville & Jones. “We are fortunate in Manitoba, and in Canada, to have someone of Gary’s calibre leading our wine education programs.”

In addition to his roles with Banville & Jones, Hewitt has also been instrumental in developing RRC’s new Wine and Spirits Education Trust© workshops, delivered through RRC’s School of Continuing and Distance Education, in conjunction with its School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Read More →

Red River College is hosting a speaker’s event today at the Exchange District Campus entitled “Standing Tall: A day dedicated to our stolen sisters.”

Across Canada every Valentine’s Day, memorial marches are held to honor the lives of missing and murdered women and their families.  As part of this day we would like to invite you to learn about some of the work that is being done in this area, to participate in a safety presentation delivered by Winnipeg Police Services and to listen to teachings from Chickadee Richard on the sacredness of women.

The event is from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm In Room P107 (CGA Manitoba Room) at RRC’s Exchange District Campus, located at 160 Princess Street. Room P409 will be reserved as a “smudge room” for the day. All are welcome.

For further info, contact:
Cheyenne Chartrand
Aboriginal Student Support & Community Relations
Red River College Exchange District Campus
P210-J  160 Princess Street  Winnipeg, MB  R3B 1K9
T: (204) 949-8506 F: (204) 949-9186
E: chchartrand@rrc.mb.ca

Find out more about Aboriginal education at Red River College, as well as related programming and events at http://blogs.rrc.ca/aboriginal/

Red River College is pleased to congratulate the recipients of two awards in the Chemical and Biosciences Technology program: Susann Ohnstedt and Bryce Desender.

• Susann Ohnstedt received the Wilfred Dychuk Award, which is presented to a first-year student in the Chemical and Biosciences Technology program who demonstrates proficiency in the analytical chemistry laboratory. In the bottom left photo, Susann is shown (on right) with Isabel Bright, Chair of Life Sciences at Red River College.

• Bryce Desender received the Dr. Raymond Green Memorial Scholarship, which is presented to a second-year student in the Chemical and Biosciences Technology program as selected by committee. In the photo (bottom right), Bryce is shown with Mrs. Cynthia Johnstone, the widow of Dr. Raymond Green. Dr.Green was a former RRC employee and instructor in the program.

To learn more about RRC’s Chemical Biosciences Technology program, click here.