RTAM 2022 UCN Bursary Award Winners

The Retired Teachers’ Association of Manitoba continues to support and advocate for the value reflected in the UCN Bursaries, and to align with the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. As we all know, post-secondary education has an expensive price tag and RTAM offers financial bursaries that can greatly decrease the stresses for university and college students. This year, RTAM through UCN, awarded 3 bursaries with one additional to be awarded in the fall, to offset the cost for northern students achieving their goals in education.

Connor Colgan, The Pas, MB, Carpentry, RTAM Trades Program Bursary

I really enjoyed taking Industrial Arts Woods; it started my passion for carpentry. My uncle always said, “if you are going to go to school, why wouldn’t you work as hard as you can?” I really know that I am studying what I love when it doesn’t feel like a pain to go to school. Learning new skills can be intimidating, but I like a challenge, and skilled trades people will always be in demand. I really enjoy participating in sports: basketball, volleyball and hockey. I have competed at the Provincial level. Sports teaches you teamwork, commitment and being a good ambassador. Whether it is building a house or making furniture for that house, what I learn in school and in my apprenticeships will be skills I will never lose. My future goal is to complete my levels in my apprenticeship and earn my Red Seal in Carpentry.

Whitney Lennox, Thompson, MB, Bach of Ed., RTAM Post-Secondary Bursary

In 2010 I graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry. I am motivated and excited to complete my BEd degree at UCN and become a teacher in northern Manitoba. It is challenging to be a stay-at-home mom to two children while attending school with no income. This bursary will allow me to become a certified teacher while supporting my family at home. I readily engaged in the northern community of Thompson where I volunteered in work activities, as well as the wider community: Thompson Humane Society, Christian Council, Salvation Army, and at-risk community outreach. After completing multiple practicums in the School District of Mystery Lake, I know that being able to teach in this community and serve the youth in the North in an educational capacity will be such an honour. I can’t wait to be a teacher and serve our northern community!

Delaney McIntyre, Flin Flon, MB, Culinary Arts, RTAM Trades Program Bursary

My path to Culinary Arts has been interesting. I love sports, especially soccer, and graduated with a BSc in 2016 from the University of Minnesota on a soccer scholarship. A few months later I welcomed the birth of my son. As a single parent without work experience in the field, and with the added adversity of sick parents, it was difficult to use this degree. I always had an interest in learning to cook and having this program in the north allowed my family to help with childcare while I attended school. Cooking helps relax me and keeps me calm in a way that was a missing puzzle piece in my life. I would like to promote a healthy eating lifestyle for young people and own a restaurant. Being a single mother of a 6-year-old boy and the sole provider for our household, this bursary will help aid in expenses for both of us.