News
SUNTEP Student Elsa Ramos-McKenzie Receives a Prestigious Award
Dec 7, 2017
Posted in: Training and Employment
By Janice R. Thompson
In the early evening of September 25, 2017, I arrived at the Regina City Hall, pleasantly surrounded by proud parents, spouses, children, friends, and community members. Once seated, the City of Regina Mayor His Worship Michael Fougere and his Council members also arrived. Sitting nearby were a group of post-secondary students. As the program began, I observed how one of the students sat patiently waiting for her name to be called, while her mother, husband, and young son proudly looked on.
The annual City of Regina Community Investments Event: Henry Baker Scholarship Program began showcasing student achievement. Each of the students was introduced, and received the deserving recognition highlighting their education training achievements. Each student was honored, and received one of the seventeen scholarships presented that evening.
Award recipients represented various post-secondary institutions. The University of Regina, including Campion College and Luther College; First Nations University of Canada, Regina Campus; Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Regina Campus; Registered Vocational Schools in Regina (The Style Academy, Western College of Remedial Massage Therapies, Marvel Beauty School, The Globe Theatre Conservatory, Avant-Garde College, Apex Academy of Professional Grooming & Animal Arts); Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, Regina Campus, and the Gabriel Dumont Institute, Regina Campus.
For the past few years, SUNTEP Regina has been a champion recipient of the prestigious award; most recent, Elsa Ramos-McKenzie. Elsa is a fourth year student tirelessly dedicated to balancing pre-service teacher training and the commitments of her young family. She is a student who takes pride in her Métis culture, role modeling, creating and applying culturally responsive education; in the classroom, and in the community. Elsa’s thoughtfulness, reflective practice, and determination as an educator continue to evolve. She is poised, articulate as a presenter, and her contributions are worthy of accolades.
Elsa continues to display leadership, collaborative abilities, a willingness to take risks, and genuine compassion and care for children and their development. A young mother with an 87.2% undergraduate grade point average, Elsa strives to fulfill the requirements of her SUNTEP Regina education. From the onset, she has received academic awards that include Dean’s Honor Roll, Academic Gold Scholarship, the Dr. Hellmut Lang Award, the National Indian Brotherhood Trust Fund, and the GDI-Saskatchewan Innovation and Opportunity Scholarship.
GDI plays a foundational role in the post-secondary training of future educators in this province. Encouraging and supporting post-secondary students are integral in academia success, and most importantly the proud reclamation of our ‘Métis-ness.’ SUNTEP and GDI continue to take pride in the success of a teacher-training program that makes a difference in Saskatchewan classrooms. We look forward to the future!
Henry Baker Scholarship Award Program Recipients, Post-Secondary Education Representatives, and the City of Regina Mayor, His Worship Michael Fougere
City of Regina Mayor, His Worship, Michael Fougere and Henry Baker/GDI Recepient, Elsa Ramos-McKenzie.
