Treaty Four Education Centre receives award

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The efforts of Treaty Four Urban Services (Regina) Inc. to provide educational opportunities to First Nations people living in the city were recognized recently when the Treaty Four Education Centre received a Training For Excellence Award.

The awards are handed out each year by the Saskatchewan Labour Force Development Board (SLFDB) to recognize organizations that contribute to the province's economic and social prosperity.

The Treaty Four Education Centre was this year's award recipient in the Promotion of Aboriginal Participation category, in recognition of the centre's School to Work program. Through that program, students are able to combine academic studies with work experience.

Kathleen McNab, youth project coordinator with Treaty Four Urban Services, said that the award is proudly displayed in one of the classrooms at the centre. The centre offers an Adult 12 program, open to students 19 or older who have been out of the school system for at least a year. The School to Work course is part of that program.

McNab said the success rate for students has been high at the centre, adding that some students have gone on to university or technical schools after completing the program. And sometimes completion of the School to Work course has even translated into employment.

"With the general labour jobs that the students get through our program they've actually got on full-time with the company or they get a part time job there," she said.

McNab said that students immediately feel comfortable attending the centre because the entire building is almost all First Nations services and students are given opportunities to take part in cultural activities, feasts and field trips to cultural events. She would like to see the school expand because they now have a waiting list of about more than 160.

"It is really good that the education centre was recognized. It shows that we are doing a good job," she said.

Other recipients of this year's Training for Excellence Awards included SaskTel and Scott Collegiate, recognized in the Educational Partnership category for their involvement in the Partners in Education program; and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST), Weyerhaeuser Hudson Bay and Carrot River Operations and the Industrial Wood and Allied Workers Local 1-184 in the Human Resources Planning/Career Enhancement category in recognition of the Partsperson Apprenticeship program which provides employees with training and educational opportunities.

SaskTel also took home the award in the Human Resource Planning/Succession Planning category. SIAST was recognized a second time as well, this time in the Recognition of Prior Learning category for its PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition) program that gives student's credit for knowledge and skills gained through previous education, training and experience.

The Agriculture Institute of Management in Saskatchewan was also recognized, receiving the Workplace Essential Skills Development Award for its Consultant Workshop Program that delivers farm business management education workshops.