The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Manitoba Education Minister Peter Bjornson gives good grades to a hands-on educational partnership between Flin Flon, Cranberry Portage and the province. Students in the construction program at University College of the North (UCN) were awarded a provincial contract to build a portable classroom. This project, now nearing completion in Cranberry Portage, allowed students to acquire valuable apprenticeship hours while supplying the province with an inexpensive facility. "It's an excellent partnership, and what a great opportunity for adult learners, because here they can learn a trade and apply their skills," said Bjornson. Bjornson visited the project site on Tuesday while in the community for provincial cabinet and caucus meetings at Frontier Collegiate. The handful of students put their drills and hammers down to shake hands and briefly chat with Bjornson about the building and their future plans. The minister said he looks forward to further dialogue with the partners who joined the province's education and training and apprenticeship branches in making the project a reality Ð UCN and the Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage school divisions. "I have to tip my hat to everyone who took on this initiative to bring this forward," he said. Dan Reagan of the UCN centre in Flin Flon called the initiative a win-win situation. "They (the provincial government) get a classroom at less than market value; we get the training we need for our apprentices," he said. The portable classroom is expected to end up in southern Manitoba when it is completed. "Instead of building in the South, shipping North, we turned that around," said Reagan with a smile.
