Arborist

Algonquin College Pembroke Campus Looks Back at 2024

As 2024 comes to a close, Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus is looking back on another year of great accomplishments by its students, alumni and employees. Our year in review starts in January when the campus expanded its health care program offerings by adding new sections of the Practical Nursing and Personal Support Worker programs to help address labour shortages in our local health care sector.

In February, the process of naming the campus drum began with a special ceremony led by Elder Barry Sarazin who later revealed that the Grandfather drum was to be named Mishomis Ashage Dwegan. The drum naming came six years after it was built by students under the direction of Elder Skip Ross and knowledge holder Pinock Smith.

Indigenous drummers at Algonquin College's Pembroke campus.

Elder Barry Sarazin leads drumming at a special drum naming ceremony at Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus.

Former Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould visited the Pembroke campus in March as part of the campus speaker series. She spoke about how Canadians can become “inbetweeners” to help strengthen the relationships between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples. After leaving politics, Wilson-Raybould has been an outspoken advocate for Indigenous peoples and has now written several books.

Tree climbing is physically demanding, but students in the Urban Forestry-Arboriculture program were highlighting their climbing skills at their year-end climbing competition in April. The event always attracts a lot of arborist employers who are eager to hire these very talented students.

The Options Skilled Trades Fair continued to promote apprenticeship training as a career option for young people when it was held in May at the Pembroke Memorial Centre. Hundreds of high school students from across Renfrew and Pontiac Counties participated in the event which again included several skills competitions among senior high school students in fields such as welding, carpentry, culinary arts, small engine repair and tire changing.

Jason Blaine holds a key to the city of Pembroke on a stage at his charity concert in Pembroke.

Pembroke campus alumnus Jason Blaine holds a key to the city of Pembroke after his charity topped $1-million raised at his annual concert and golf tournament.

June was a month of celebration. Alumnus Jason Blaine cracked the $1-million milestone in fundraising as his charity golf tournament and concert marked its tenth anniversary. Blaine was also awarded the key to the city of Pembroke, recognition for his talent and his philanthropic support for his hometown. Also in June, hundreds of graduates crossed the stage at our convocation ceremony and our campus Dean, Sarah Hall, was honored with a special coin presented by Garrison Petawawa commander, Colonel Jason Guiney for her tireless work strengthening the college’s relationship with the Canadian Armed Forces.

July brought good news to the campus as it was approved by the province to deliver the Arborist apprenticeship training program. Adding this apprenticeship program is complimentary to the full time Urban Forestry-Arboriculture certificate program that the campus has delivered for several years. The campus also offers carpentry and electrical apprenticeship training programs.

In August, the Pembroke campus sought public input on its master campus development plan. As it looks towards the future, the college is considering where investments will need to be made in its facilities.

Former Olympian figure skater and mental health advocate Elizabeth Manley returned to campus in September to be part of a tree planning activity with Forestry students. The activity was held on International Suicide Prevention Day, giving students and campus employees an opportunity to remember friends and family who have died by suicide. It also opened up a door for Manley to speak about the importance of mental health and wellness, as she shared her own personal journey battling depression during her skating career.

In September, the Outdoor Adventure program marked its 25th anniversary with a special homecoming weekend at Wilderness Tours. Alumni from the program returned to the Ottawa Valley from across the country to re-connect with former classmates and faculty while enjoying a weekend of whitewater rafting and other adventure activities.

Retired General Rick Hillier headlined our Fall Business Leadership conference in October. General Hillier helped the conference attract a large crowd as he shared his experiences leading Canadian troops and offered sound advice on leadership. Television and podcast personality Amber MacArthur returned to the conference to speak about artificial intelligence and its impact on the workforce.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson and Pembroke Campus Elder Marie Wilson pose for a picture.

Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson and Pembroke Campus Elder Marie Wilson.

Marie Wilson was one of three commissioners to lead Canada’s National Truth and Reconciliation commission. She came to the Pembroke campus in November to speak about her new book, North of Nowhere, which chronicles her experience working with His Honour, Murray Sinclair and Wilton Littlechild for more than six-and-a-half years as they listened and recorded testimony from survivors of Canada’s residential school system.

More than 20 campus employees visited the Chalk River labs of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in December. CNL is a major employer of Algonquin College graduates and co-op students and the tour of the site helped faculty and staff consider future partnerships.

There was so much more that happened this year, but these few highlights show what a vibrant learning community exists at Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus. The college will close for the holiday season on December 24th and will re-open on January 2nd. The Winter term begins on Monday, January 6th.

(Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Interim Dean of Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus)

 

 

New School Year Starts at Pembroke Waterfront Campus

There really is nothing like Day One at a college campus. It is filled with energy as new students arrive and returning students rekindle relationships with classmates they haven’t seen in several months. In a word, it is “fantastic.”

Indigenous drumming

Elder Barry Sarazin leads Indigenous drummers as they sing a morning song on Day One of classes at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront campus.

Day One at the Pembroke campus started with Indigenous drumming. Elder Barry Sarazin led drummers in singing a morning song under a crystal blue sky along the shores of the Kitchissippi or Ottawa River. Using the campus Grandfather drum, Elder Sarazin reflected on his own experience when he studied at Algonquin College’s Ottawa campus in the 1980s, sharing the excitement that he felt in being a post-secondary student for the first time.

As classes got underway, students had plenty of time to socialize and meet new people. Over the lunch hour, the Students’ Association had mentalist and illusionist Wayne Hoffman entertain students with his trickery, leaving students with plenty of questions on “how did he do that?” On Day One and throughout the first month of classes, there are always plenty of social activities and events for students to participate in. It helps them get comfortable with their new surroundings and plays an important role in student success.

For some students, Day One meant engaging in practical learning activities that are a key component of their programs. For example, the Urban Forestry and Arboriculture program students got their first taste of climbing trees. It was an opportunity to put on harnesses and learn about tree climbing safety, as the students will spend many hours honing their climbing skills during their program.

At the Wilderness Tours Resort, Day One for Outdoor Adventure students meant lots of time on the Ottawa River. Students will spend their first-week navigating whitewater rapids, a key program component. Students are trained to become whitewater guides, learning how to maneuver a raft safely through the turbulent waters of the Ottawa River, one of the top destinations for whitewater rafting and kayaking in Canada.

Arborist students get ready to climb trees.

Urban Forestry-Arboriculture students get ready to climb trees at Riverside Park in Pembroke on day one of their program.

The Pembroke Campus has always been a destination for students because of its unique mix of programs. More than 50 percent of the more than 800 students who started classes on Day One had to relocate to the community. This group includes students from across Canada and more than 160 international students who have arrived from all around the world. The list of countries that are represented by these students includes India, China, Ghana, Philippines, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Brazil, Nepal, Mongolia, Kenya, Chile, Pakistan, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Egypt, United Kingdom and Uganda.

Day One was great. It’s the beginning of a new chapter in our students’ lives, an opportunity to position themselves for career success. Getting off on the right foot is important. The journey is just beginning.

 

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Interim Dean of the Pembroke Waterfront Campus

 

From the Gridiron to Climbing Trees at Algonquin College

Football is a tough sport and some would argue the ultimate team sport. The X’s and O’s that make up the play sheet for a game is heavily reliant on everyone doing their job, but there’s one position that is critical to the success of the team-the quarterback role.

Ryan PyearRyan Pyear has held that position and 18 years after he steered Wilfrid Laurier university to a Vanier Cup title, he has called an audible and is trying to re-set his career at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus. The former football star who was named the most valuable player when his Golden Hawks defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies in the 2005 national championship game is far removed from the grid iron, having turned in his football jersey for climbing boots, ropes and a hard hat. These days he spends most of his time climbing trees and learning from his professors as a student in the Urban Forestry-Arboriculture program.

Climbing treesNow in his early 40’s, Pyear has made a bold move to switch careers. Like football, he has found a new passion, one that is far removed from his more traditional roles that have involved office work and ironically recruiting students to post secondary education. After graduating with a Kinesiology degree from Laurier, he returned to the sidelines as a coach for the school’s football program for the next seven years. He then joined the student recruitment office, eventually moving across town to the University of Waterloo where he continued to work as a recruiter, but the years of office work and travel started to wear on him and he looked elsewhere for new career pathways. That’s what brought him to the Pembroke campus.

“I was at a point where I was unhappy working inside most of the time. I’ve always loved trees and nature and wanted to spend more time outside so I decided to make a change before it was too late. I looked around and the Urban Forestry-Arboriculture program had everything I was looking for so I decided to choose happiness over money and take a leap,” says Pyear.

It literally was a leap. In his football days, Pyear would look down a field and try to identify what the defence was going to do once the ball was snapped. These days, he finds himself high above the ground with a unique perspective of nature’s beauty as he learns the art of climbing trees. It’s technical work where safety is paramount, but Pyear has found there is a correlation to his five years of playing university football.

Playing football“As a QB I learned to simplify things and just focus on the task at hand. That’s helped me when I’m in the tree, especially when doing climbing exams 50 or more feet above the ground. I also learned to identify what I need to improve at, which has transferred nicely into the program. There’s also the competitive nature of it and wanting to be better than I was yesterday. There’s no shortage of skills to learn and improve on,” says Pyear.

When you speak to Pyear about his football legacy, his face lightens up. It was a special time in his life, and now years later with more life experience to draw on, he has set himself up for a new challenge. Like football, climbing trees is physically demanding, but he is enjoying the experience.

“The program is both challenging and extremely interesting. We have ideal instructors and although I’m a fair bit older than my classmates, I find them more relatable than what I experienced in my old profession. I love the city too. I’m always down by the waterfront or exploring somewhere, and I’ve met some amazing people just out and about that I end up speaking with for sometimes close to an hour,” says Pyear.

Pyear is a long way from the former Ivor Wynne stadium in Hamilton where he became a hero at Wildrid Laurier university on an early December night almost two decades ago by engineering a game winning drive that gave him and his teammates a chance to lift the Vanier Cup above their heads. With the clock winding down, Pyear got his team into field goal range, leading to a climactic 24-23 win over the Huskies.

The performance not only resulted in Pyear being named the most valuable player of the national championship game, it also made him an All Canadian quarterback for the second time in his playing career and earned him a first ballot introduction to the Legends of Laurier Football Ring of Honour.

But that was then. Pyear will still pick up a football occasionally and throw it around with friends, but the grid iron is far removed from his thoughts. He has a new game plan now, one that is focused on being an arborist, a career that has replaced cheering fans with the stillness of nature. It’s a contrast that Pyear has embraced. He’s turned the page and is writing a new chapter in his life story.

(Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs)

 

Nothing Better Than Algonquin College Students Showcasing Their Skills

The end of a school year is always special as there are more opportunities for students to showcase what they have learned in their program at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus. In the past few days there has been a lot of talent on display and while we can’t highlight all of the great student activities that have been happening, here are a few examples of how students benefit from the practical learning experiences that the campus delivers.

Urban Forestry - Arboriculture, Tree Climbing Competition, Algonquin College, PembrokeThe Urban Forestry-Arboriculture program is relatively new to the Pembroke Campus, but it is generating a lot of interest among employers in the arborist sector. To the program’s credit, it has reached out to these employers and invited them to observe the skills the students have at their annual tree climbing competition. Watching the students navigate high above the ground in large trees, performing tasks safely and with great confidence, is so much more of an indication of their abilities compared to handing in a resume and participating in an interview. The experience is powerful for both the student and the prospective employer, and very quickly you can see the connections that are made at this competition result in job opportunities for the soon-to-be graduates.

Carpentry and RenovationsStudents in the Carpentry and Renovations Techniques program have also been catching the attention of the community for their work in renovating an older building to accommodate a transition house for homeless people in Pembroke. The century-old home needs a lot of work and the students are essentially gutting it and re-building the inside of the home, by installing new interior walls, insulation, drywall and more. It is a wonderful culminating experience that has allowed the students to pull together all of the skills they have learned over the past several months in their shop classes.

Office Administration - Executive, Changemaker Award, Algonquin College, Pembroke

One more example we will share is our Office Administration-Executive students who recently won a Changemaker Award from the College’s Board of Governors for their work in bringing awareness to social issues in Renfrew County. Each year the students work on a community project that allows them to emphasize the organizational skills they have acquired through their studies. This year they have entitled their project, Raise A Flag, an initiative that shines a spotlight on mental health. It is both a community awareness effort as well as a fundraiser for the Robbie Dean Centre in Pembroke.

As our students look forward to becoming graduates and starting their careers, these demonstrations of what they have learned in their programs remind us of why having a college in our community is so important. It changes lives and helps us build stronger communities.

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Acting Dean of the Pembroke Waterfront Campus

Celebrating 50th Anniversary with New Programs at Waterfront Campus

As Algonquin College prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017, it will also launch several new programs at its Waterfront Campus.

Building on the success of its unique programs that attract students from across Canada, the campus is adding three programs to its line-up that are expected to draw students from both within Renfrew County and beyond the region’s geographical boundaries.

The most unique of these programs is the Action Sports and Park Development one year certificate program. As skateboard parks, BMX biking trails and snowboarding facilities become common place, this growing industry requires skilled workers who can build, design and maintain these extreme sport parks.

Algonquin College, Action Sports and Park Development

 

This is the first college program of its kind in Canada, and compliments the already very popular Outdoor Adventure program which was introduced at the campus more than 15 years ago, leading to a significant surge in the campus’s out-of-town population.

Urban Forestry-Arboriculture is also on the docket for the fall 2017 intake. This is also a one year certificate program, and while some other colleges also deliver this program, it will help the Waterfront Campus open up more opportunities for students who are looking for a career in the forestry sector. Over the past several years, the Forestry Technician program has had pent up demand, resulting in some students being placed on a wait list because all of the seats in the program were filled.

Urban Forestry - Arboriculture, Algonquin College

The third program being introduced is actually an expansion of the Radiation Safety program. The program will be renamed to Applied Nuclear Science and Radiation Safety and move from a one year certificate to a two-year diploma program, primarily to ensure the curriculum is meeting the expectations of the nuclear industry.

Bruce Power, Ontario’s largest private electricity generating company, has already endorsed the program by publicly choosing it as among a hand full of programs that it will endorse for its future workforce needs.

Applied Nuclear Science and Radiation Safety student experience

In addition to these new programs, others are changing. The Police Foundations program that has been traditionally offered as a two year diploma, will move to a compressed format allowing students to earn their college diploma in one calendar year.

The General Arts and Science Pre-Nursing and Pre-Health Sciences programs will also be getting a new name. There have also been some curriculum updates to these programs to allow them to offer enhanced pathways to college certificate and diploma programs and college and university degree programs. These changes are province wide and should be announced soon.

2017 will be a very special year of celebration for the college, and there is no way to better celebrate than by offering more programming.

 

Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs