Category: Graduation Celebration

Alumni Spotlight | Bushra Kainat

Bushra Kainat graduated with Distinction with her Baccalauréat en éducation secondaire and was the Fall 2021 recipient of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Award.

In today’s spotlight, we’re recognizing the student achievements of a new member of our alumni family, Bushra Kainat, who graduated in Fall 2021 with distinction with her Baccalauréat en éducation secondaire.
 
Over the course of Bushra’s program, she was the recipient of the Centennial Merit Plus Scholarship (2017 Fall), an Academic Silver Scholarship (2020 Fall), and an Academic Silver Prize (2021 Spring/Summer), and finally the 2021 Fall Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation award recipient.
 
Bushra wanted to become a teacher because she says, “During my schooling, I met many educators that inspired me, and I wanted to be that inspiration to others. I have a passion for the French language and I wanted to share that passion with the next generation. I highly value education and learning, and wanted to encourage the same passion in the next generations.”
 
Among her University experiences, Bushra says, for her what was most memorable, was her second year in the Bac program, “which I spent at Universite Laval, where I got to experience the French language and the French culture first-hand.”
 
In terms of on campus experiences, Bushra especially enjoyed “having the opportunity to have some amazing professors!” Three of her professors were especially influential: “I really enjoyed Laurie Carlson Berg’s courses, as well as Stephen Davis’ courses. These two professor’s showed me the impact the educator has on the content being taught. They were very involved with their students’ progress and learning. Lucie Anderson was also an amazing educator. She gave us some of the best teaching advice I have received.”
 
From her experiences as a student, Bushra offers the following advice to current and future students: “My number one advice would be to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible. Join the club, apply for the award, participate in conferences, volunteer with an organization, etc. It will go a long ways! Not only will it help you gain experience, but you will develop many skills on the way.”
 
Bushra says, “The most significant aspect of earning her degree with the Faculty of Education was that “through this degree, I was able to gain a variety of experiences that helped shape me into the educator that I am becoming. From the variety of in-classroom experiences to the exposure to various learning and teaching environments, it all helped me build my skills as a teacher.”
 
Bushra began teaching with Saskatoon Public following her graduation, and she looks forward to returning to University of Regina for her master’s in education in the near future.

Congratulations Class of 2021 (Fall)

Congratulations to the #UREDu Class of 2021! We are proud of you and your accomplishment! We wish you all future successes.

We also recognize our Faculty award recipients:

Thor Stewart, graduating with Great Distinction, and recipient of the Bachelor of Education After Degree convocation prize.

Bushra Kainat, graduating with Distinction with her Baccalauréat en éducation secondaire, and recipient of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Award

Join the celebration! Watch the Fall 2021 Convocation via Facebook livestream on today at 2 p.m https://www.facebook.com/events/301658671463816/

Inaugural fall 2021 recipients of the Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award

Dr. Titi Olayele
Dr. Katia Hildebrandt

Congratulations to the inaugural fall 2021 convocation recipients of the #UREdu Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award: Dr. Titi Olayele (BIPOC) and Dr. Katia Hildebrandt (the Faculty of Education nominee for the President’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award).

 
The Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award was established to recognize the outstanding academic performance of thesis-based graduate students (Master’s and PhD) in Education. Each recipient is a student in a graduate program in the Faculty of Education who has exemplified academic excellence and research ability, demonstrated leadership ability and/or university/community involvement, and whose thesis was deemed meritorious by the Examining Committee.
 
One award (of $2000) will go to an applicant who has self-identified as a Black, Indigenous, or a person of colour (BIPOC).
 
The second award (of $2000) will go to the Faculty of Education nominee for the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal (Spring) or the President’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award (Fall).
 
There are four awards annually, each valued at $2,000, divided between two convocations:
*Two awards in Spring (from the list of eligible candidates for the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal) and
*Two awards in Fall (from the list of eligible candidates for the President’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award)

View Dr. Olayele’s 3-minute thesis presentation

Virtual Celebration of our Faculty of Education Undergrads Graduands

Attn: Faculty of Education Spring 2020 Undergraduate Graduands:

In light of the recent cancellation of the U of R’s Spring 2020 Convocation due to Covid-19, the Faculty of Education would like to showcase our graduates through an online collage or slideshow/video (Virtual Celebration) that will be posted to our Education News blog and our social media.

Graduands who have had their grad photo taken by Camera One photo: We are purchasing the permission to use a low resolution digital photo of you that is for web-viewing only, not suitable for printing, in the slideshow (any reproduction would constitute copyright infringement). We will need your permission to use this image in the Virtual Celebration. Please download the Generic-Model-Release-Form fill it in and email it to Shuana.Niessen@uregina.ca by April 18, 2020. Extended to May 31, 2020.

If you can’t complete the form due to software issues, send your written permission to the same address. We will not be able to include you unless we receive permission.

If you are graduating in Spring 2020 but didn’t get your photo done through Camera One, but would like to be included in the Virtual Celebration, please email a digital photo of yourself with your first and last name to Shuana.Niessen@uregina.ca

We are proud of your achievement and extend our congratulations to each of you for the hard work that you have done to reach this milestone.

Second cohort of GDI MEd students hold graduation BBQ

GDI MASTER OF EDUCATION STUDENTS HOLD GRADUATION BBQ

Sep 7, 2017

Posted in: 

By James Oloo

On Thursday July 27, 2017, over 40 people attended the Gabriel Dumont Institute-University of Regina Master of Education graduation BBQ at Kachur Golf Club in Prince Albert. The warm summer day event included conversations, laughter, and reflections in celebration of the graduation by the second cohort of the Master of Education program.

The Class of 2017 had 21 graduates including Chris Kelly, Christian Hudon, Dianne Broome, Chantale Fetch, Ashley Grimard, Jamie Subchyshyn, Janelle Hudon, Jean-Marc Belliveau, Katherine Burak, and Charmain Laroque. Others included Lauriane Hudon, Marti White, Matt Gray, Chantal Ntbategera, Renae Semkiw, Renee Kurbis, Rylan Michalchuk, Sandra Lawless, Steven Korecki, Trevor Rutz, and Victor Thunderchild.

According to Christian Hudon, “The program has been wonderful. I love it. Joining the program was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my professional life.” Charmain Laroque described the master of education program as “Absolutely great program,” and Chantal Ntbategera called it “Nice program.”

Marti White Stavely, a teacher at the Saskatchewan Rivers Public Schools, stated that: “I absolutely loved the program. It is the best professional development experience ever.” She continued, “I recommended the program to a few people; some of them got admission and have started their master of education studies this summer.”

Dianne Broome called the program “excellent.” Dianne noted that “The MEd program made a huge difference in my personal and professional growth. The content delivery was amazing. The cohort system that encouraged collaboration among students has been fantastic. I learned just as much from the professors as I did from my classmates.” Dianne who is a teacher in Prince Albert said that she had always wanted to enroll in masters of education program ever since she graduated from SUNTEP Prince Albert in 2007. So, “When GDI started offering the program in Prince Albert and my friends and fellow teachers who had enrolled in the first cohort told me great things about it, I knew it was time for me to do my masters. My friends have families and they work full time, but they earned their master of education degrees. It was possible. And now, I have completed the MEd degree!”

One of graduates commented on how tightly-knit the group of students is, bound by ties of teaching in the Prince Albert and Area schools, family relations among students or between students and staff, as well as the fact that many of the students are SUNTEP graduates.

There was laughter when students, nominated by their colleagues, received such awards as “Award for My School is Better than Yours,” Award for Great Voice of Reason,” “Award for Where The Hell are My Glasses,” and “Fashionista Award.”

The master of education program coordinator Michael Relland received a standing ovation from the graduates who thanked him for his work. Cory McDougall, the GDI Director of Finance, described how Relland has been involved with the master of education program “from day one” and thanked him for his hard work dedication.

In his speech, Michael Relland noted that “Teachers are good human beings. We strive to do the right thing. But sometimes, we do not know what the right thing is or how to do it. I hope the Master of Education program has enabled you to learn what that right thing is and how to do it.”

Many graduates also thanked GDI and the University of Regina for bringing the program to Prince Albert. This made it easier for them to enroll in the program without having to relocate or drive long distance.

The GDI-University of Regina Community-Based Master of is a two-year cohort-based program offered at the Gabriel Dumont Institute Centre in Prince Albert. The program’s content themes are tailored to anticipate and respond to community and student needs including: educational leadership, Indigenous education, and curriculum and instruction. It links theory to local educational issues and practice, and employs a flexible course delivery, including weekend sessions, summer institutes, and online distance education. As well, it has a Program Coordinator to offer advice and support to students.

The master of education program admitted its first cohort of 25 students in the summer of 2013. Of the 25, 23 successfully completed the program in the summer of 2015 – a completion rate of 92%. A second cohort of 23 students commenced the master of education program in July 2015, of which 21 (91%) graduated in July 2017. A third cohort of 25 students started classes this month and are expected to graduate in the summer of 2019.

For additional information about the master of education program including application requirements and program outline, please visit https://gdins.org/programs-and-courses/what-we-offer/community-based-masters-program/ or contact Michael Relland at michael.relland@gdi.gdins.org

Celebrating success and remembering at Cumberland grads

The 28 graduates from the Tisdale campus. Review Photo/Devan C. Tasa

Graduations are a time to celebrate success, yet there was another purpose why people gathered at Cumberland College’s Nipawin grad: to remember.

Brenda Bakken received a posthumous bachelor of education degree. She had passed away suddenly during her third year of her degree.

“This affected our students greatly,” said Tom Weegar, the college’s president. “They’re a close-knit group, they’ve been going through all of their courses together and when one of the students passes, they’re all very deeply and profoundly affected by it.”

So the college worked with the University of Regina to get a posthumous degree for Bakken.

“I pay tribute to the University of Regina to being open to it and working with us very closely to do it, do it properly and do it well,” Weegar said.

The college president said Bakken was on the minds of the graduates as they accepted the first degrees from the joint program.

“It was just really nice to finish up with that and provide the students with closure, and the family closure as well.”

The Nipawin graduation ceremony was held May 31. The Melfort ceremony was held the day before, on May 30, and the Tisdale ceremony was held June 1. There were 158 graduates from across the region.

Weegar said the ceremonies celebrate the success of the college’s students.

“That’s a really big thing. We watch our students walk across the stage and they’re different people than the students that have come to us,” he said. “They’re confident, they’re knowledgeable and they’ve got a greater sense as to where they want to go and what they want to be.”

The graduates were from the adult basic education, business certificate, office administration, bachelor of education, continuing care assistant and practical nursing programs.

In terms of that last program, Weegar said nursing students that go on to get licensed receive an average of 97 per cent on the exam. The national average is in the low 90s.

The president said he’s proud of the graduates and pleased to be part of a personal transformation. He added later that he stepped out into the hall during the ceremonies and overheard how some of these students take care of children while they get an education.

“I say to myself sometimes: that’s why I consider our students to be heroes because they overcome things like crazy. They have two babies and they still get their Grade 12, they still get a B.Ed degree,” he said. “I could never do that. Not a hope in heck I could do that. I’m just amazed by our students’ capabilities.”

Bachelor of Education
Michela Adlem
Tarynn Freed
Amy Kapeller
Julie Rempel
Leanne Allen-Bader
Alicia Garlock
Kourtney Kerelation
Jenna Rudolph
Brenda Bakken
Lolery George
Shaunee Kobialko
Gillian Smith
Luc Casavant
Oliver Head
Carmelle Kubat
Kaitlin Wesnoski
Shannon Cranch
Payton Hiebert
Bernadette McKenzie
Audrey Whitecap
Rosanda Daniels
Robyn Hildebrand
Brenna Morris
Lorena Whitecap
Rubyann Dorion
Ashley Hobbins
Dora Morrow
Lacey Wicks

Celebrating U of R Graduates in Nunavut

On June 14, some 2,400 kilometres northeast of Regina, President Timmons participated in a very special celebration in the tiny hamlet of Hall Beach, on the shores of Foxe Basin. The narrow strait is across from Baffin Island on the northeastern tip of the Melville Peninsula in the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut.

Nunavut Grad Picture
A time to celebrate. These education grads will now make a big difference in their respective communities in Canada’s far north. (Photo courtesy of Julie Machnaik)

The occasion was the graduation of five students from the Nunavut Teacher Education Program (NTEP), a partnership between the University of Regina’s Faculty of Education and Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) that began in 2007.

The program prepares Nunavummiut (people of Nunavut) to become teachers in Nunavut schools with an emphasis on training primary and elementary teachers. The program strives to include an increasingly greater amount of Inuit content in the curriculum and includes a variety of locally relevant topics, including core courses in Inuktitut, the Inuit language spoken in the central and eastern Canadian Arctic.

“We are proud to have partnered with Nunavut Arctic College for close to a decade on this important initiative,” said Timmons. “We are pleased to be able to offer additional support and resources so that Nunavummiut can find their way into Nunavut classrooms. This is very much in keeping with the University of Regina’s strategic priority on Indigenization in all of its forms.”

Tuesday’s graduation ceremony was followed by a traditional Inuit feast.

Most NTEP students complete their four years at the Nunatta Campus in Iqaluit and earn a University of Regina Bachelor of Education degree. Under the terms of the agreement, the University of Regina provides a range of services, including visiting instructors, professional development opportunities for students, and learning experiences through exchanges.

The Nunavut Teacher Education Program is only one of the many community-based partnerships between the Faculty of Education and partners across Saskatchewan and into other provinces. The partnerships date back some 30 years.

By Greg Campbell Posted: June 15, 2016 12:00 p.m. U of R Feature Stories