Every year that passes adds one more inspiring chapter to the rich history of Selkirk College’s impact on the lives of students, those who guide them through their post-secondary journey and the communities that are served by learner outcomes.
As we reach into the vault of the last 12 months, it’s clear that career-ready education and jumping-off points to further academic exploration kept campuses and learning centres throughout the region buzzing. From Grand Forks to Kaslo and all the communities in between, Selkirk College delivered accessible post-secondary education that helped change the lives of thousands of individuals in the West Kootenay and Boundary regions.
The year ahead will once again be filled with the opportunities and excitement that have made Selkirk College a foundation of the community since it first opened its doors in 1966. Regardless of external pressures and adjustments required to continue providing a mix of programs that meet labour-market needs, the commitment of dedicated individuals who fuel student success inside the classroom and out is steadfast.
As we get set for 2025, here’s a look back at five storylines that helped define the year that was at Selkirk College.
Building for the Future
Success at post-secondary requires the delivery of a fulsome package of student supports outside the classroom. Beyond access to campus services, recreational amenities, student-life opportunities and learning supports are the brick-and-mortar components of Selkirk College.
With campuses and learning centres spread across the region, the college chips away at maintaining its facilities on an annual basis to make sure the spaces and places where students learn offer the best possible environment. Thanks to government and community support, 2024 saw the ribbon cut on several significant projects.
First announced in October 2021 and breaking ground in November 2022, two sparkling new student housing facilities on the Castlegar Campus and Nelson’s Silver King Campus were completed. Part of the Provincial Government’s Homes for People Action Plan, the $37.7 million project increased the college’s on-campus housing by 71 per cent.
“Providing on-campus housing makes our campuses more vibrant places,” said Selkirk College President Maggie Matear at the opening of the Castlegar Campus housing in September. “The new Castlegar Campus complex not only has a beautiful view overlooking the river but also provides a secure, affordable housing option that contributes to the exceptional post-secondary experience we want to provide our graduates.”
On the summer solstice, the community gathered at the Tenth Street Campus to celebrate the opening of the gorgeous new Indigenous Gathering Space, which will support transformative learning and reconnection. The outcome of a dynamic partnership between the City of Nelson, Selkirk College and regional Indigenous Nations, the new $220,000 space was made possible through Heritage BC’s 150 Time Immemorial Grant program, which the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation administers.
“Completing the opening of the Indigenous Gathering Space is full circle to me and those who helped with the project proposal, the building of this beautiful structure and awakening the space,” said Dianne Biin, the college’s director of Indigenous Education & Engagement. “The voices, songs and dances shared in the space are healing and demonstrate reconciliation through authentic partnerships.”
A vital partner in the region, Columbia Basin Trust’s generous ongoing support of post-secondary contributed to facility improvements that are key to the student-life experience. The cafeteria on the Castlegar Campus has been transformed into a modern space that helps create a positive atmosphere to enhance the college experience. With work still taking place in the servery area of the Ripple Café, the renovation to a campus hub will benefit the college community for years to come. A renovation project for Castlegar Campus recreation facilities also benefitted from the Trust partnership, with a new gymnasium floor, modern bleachers, a proper divider curtain and a refresh of the bouldering cave.
Learning on the Land
Selkirk College outcomes reflect the geography, economy and priorities of rural British Columbia. When it comes to on-the-land learning involving students, employees and alumni, the last 12 months were packed with results coming out of the School of Environment & Geomatics and Selkirk Innovates.
From hydrological modelling to collecting remote sensing data and drone-collected imagery to fisheries intelligence research, Selkirk College graduates, students and faculty were busy in the region’s forests, streams and mountaintops.
“It's been fun diving into remote sensing, from the data collection to processing and analysis,” said alumna turned co-op student Emma Lognon, who was working with a Selkirk Innovates team on a project aimed at better understanding fisheries ecosystems. “The experience I have gained around troubleshooting and developing an intimate knowledge of processing multispectral and thermal imagery has been invaluable.”
Current students benefited from connecting learning with real-world applied research in the Skattebo Education Forest, and Forest Technology Program students helped identify one of the largest grand firs in the province on a small patch of forest right behind the Silver King Campus that ended up on the BC Big Tree Registry.
School of Environment & Geomatics alumni can be found in every corner of the resource industry. In early January, a Recreation, Fish & Wildlife Program graduate from the Class of 2013 made a big imprint on the planet’s mountain bike scene. The executive director for the non-profit Castlegar Parks & Trail Society, Sarah Meunier helped lead a team that constructed a 4.4-kilometre mountain bike trail in the Merry Creek recreation area that Trailforks chose as the top mountain bike trail on the planet in 2023.
Adding an exclamation mark to the importance of outcomes in this area of post-secondary education was Class of 2024 co-valedictorian Holly Macris, who graduated in May from the Recreation, Fish & Wildlife Program. Providing inspiring words to graduates across all programs, Macris reminded her peers of the responsibility they hold with their new knowledge and skills.
“It’s easy to see the problems in the world as something too big to have an impact on, but if everyone makes a small change, then we have the collective power to make a big difference,” said the 30-year-old. “People come from all over the world to attend Selkirk College, and I really believe that our graduating class has this ability. If we can take what our college experience has given us in whatever area we are in and work to make a difference, then we can have a really big impact.”
Excellence in Arts and Creativity
The supportive launchpad for creativity in all areas of study oozed at Selkirk College in 2024. There were so many outstanding accomplishments linked directly to the college’s School of Arts & Technology, but student creativity could be found in classrooms and shop spaces across the campus community.
The college’s 10-month Ceramics Program was thrust into the national spotlight early in 2024, when recent graduate Alice Gibson was chosen as one of 10 amateur potters to be a contestant in CBC television’s The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down. Though she didn’t win the eight-episode reality TV show, the 22-year-old got to rub clay-covered elbows with guest judge Seth Rogen in an unforgettable few weeks in front of the camera in Vancouver. Gibson credited her alma mater with helping get her there.
“I absolutely loved my experience at Selkirk College,” Gibson said just prior to the show airing in February. “It came during such a beautiful time of my life, I have taken away so many wonderful relationships and so many skills. I owe so much to my time at Kootenay Studio Arts and to my instructors.”
Speaking of her mentors, Ceramics Program instructor Robin DuPont joined the pantheon of British Columbia’s outstanding working artists after being honoured with the 2024 Sam Carter Award in Applied Art + Design in November. A powerhouse in his chosen medium, DuPont was quick to credit the importance of working with students on a daily basis.
“I care deeply about this program, its outcomes and its ripples through the cultural landscape of our country,” said DuPont, who also served as the pottery expert on Throw Down. “It has added fuel to succeed in my own career so that I can attract attention to our program, and our fine city and region. As a student, I learned the most from my instructors that were out there as professional artists, as well as in the classroom with us. I strive to fill those shoes and hope that my successes can actually help our alumni succeed.”
In the spring, college alumna Naomi Bourque made a splash at the national level when her magnificent collection of 10 ponchos hit the runway at the Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival in Toronto. The artist-in residence at Kootenay Studio Arts, Bourque’s wonderful incorporation of culture, multi-dimensional skillset and development as an artist came together in the poncho project that she started as a student in the Textile Arts Program.
Beautiful creative outcomes stretched from the School of Arts & Technology to the School of Business to the School of Industry & Trades Training. The Digital Arts Program year-end show was stunning, students in the Fine Woodworking Program displayed incredible designs, Culinary Program students enlivened tastebuds at the Best of BC event and entrepreneurial students stepped outside the box for creative new businesses at the annual Business Plan Tradeshow.
On Nelson’s Tenth Street Campus, students in the unique Contemporary Music & Technology Program cranked up the volume and laid down the grooves throughout the year. Whether graduates were looking to transfer to renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston or taking a band on the road post-graduation, the talent in the program continued to flourish.
“To put it simply… the best decision of my life to come here,” said Class of 2024 co-valedictorian Jay Porteous, the first graduate from her program chosen to represent all her college peers at convocation in May. “It was everything I needed out of a program to do what I want to do with my music. I wanted to learn everything about music and Selkirk College was the answer. It helped me develop my skills as a musician on my chosen instrument, but also provided a well-rounded education in all of the things that make up music as a whole. It’s the backbone and it makes this program special.”
Health Care Results
It’s impossible to imagine rural BC’s health care landscape without graduates of Selkirk College’s School of Health & Human Services. Hospitals, clinics, care homes and outreach services are packed with those holding a credential from their local college.
Graduates of the 15-month Pharmacy Technician Program and the 30-week Health Care Assistant Program fanned out onto the frontlines of health care in our communities. The first graduating cohort in the new two-year Practical Nursing Program completed its training in November.
“This cohort shines a bright light in our region, setting an example to show other local residents that they can do anything they put their mind to,” said Sarah Lechtahaler, the program coordinator for the Practical Nursing Program. “All of the students had full and busy lives outside of school; they had to adjust their routines and their focus of attention. These people are leaders, they took a risk to change their lives to support themselves, their families, our communities and our regional health care system in a different way. I know they have inspired many others already.”
Students and graduates of the four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program always have a massive impact on the communities the college serves. From the Student Outreach Nursing Program to research with Selkirk Innovates on the Bridging Rural Homelessness & Well-Being project, students tackled real-time issues facing today’s society as it relates to health care needs and services.
The contribution of the college’s Rural Pre-Medicine (RPM) Program to the sector really began to take shape in 2024 with an impressive number of alumni now showing up on the frontlines as medical school graduates. The program was launched in 2014, and Dr. Svetlana Hadikin was one of the first graduates of the three-year program to be accepted into the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Born and raised in Castlegar, Hadikin’s family medicine residency in Fruitvale got off to a tremendous start when she was awarded a 2024 Rural Health Award by the Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia.
“Svetlana and I have been in residency together for nearly two years, and I have witnessed first-hand her passion for rural health care,” said Dr. Rebecca Flynn, the colleague who nominated Hadikin for the award. “She advocates for her patients, as well as for her rural resident colleagues on a regional and provincial level.”
Dr. Jocey Terwoord is another graduate of the RPM Program now heading into a family practice residency after completing medical school at UBC’s Island Medical Program at the end of 2024. Raised in Salmo, she plans on returning to rural BC for her career in medicine. Crediting Selkirk College with helping fuel her success, the 25-year-old encourages others to consider the pathway.
“If a career in health care is what you want to do and you grew up in a rural area, Selkirk College has the program and support that students should consider,” Terwoord said. “The support you receive is amazing and it helps enable you to achieve your goals.”
Concept of Community is Vital to Success
The entirety of the work being done each year by students and employees at Selkirk College always points back to the regional community that is served by post-secondary outcomes. The contributions to the economy, culture and daily living of the West Kootenay and Boundary region are vast. And it goes both ways.
The Selkirk College Foundation was first formed in 1985, partially in response to decreased government funding. It operated independently from the college’s Board of Governors, focusing on efforts to raise funds and support students. Shifting trends in fundraising and the overall structure of operations saw the foundation merge with the college in 2006.
In 2019, work began on a process to re-establish the foundation as a separate entity. The first meeting of the refreshed Selkirk College Foundation took place in December 2020, and after officially becoming a BC society, it was officially relaunched this past October.
“It has taken a lot of dedicated work to get to this point, but we are pleased to celebrate this milestone and move forward with this vital work,” said Andrew Jupp, manager of Advancement & Alumni Relations. “There are many unfunded needs across the college, which we hope we can address with the extra support from the community, including updating learning equipment, enhancing facilities and continuing to provide support for students. The foundation board and its members will help advance post-secondary in our region by building regional partnerships and promoting the programs and activities at the college.”
From the Giving Day Fun Run in late April to the current Steps to Success campaign, individuals and corporate partners have opened their pocketbooks to make 2024’s fundraising efforts a tremendous success. Funds raised go toward a variety of student supports, from food security to academic scholarships. The evidence of support is seen each year at convocation when students from all programs cross the stage at the Castlegar Campus gymnasium to receive a credential, where they can feel the power of community helping them achieve their educational goals.
In 2024, the college asked the community for input into the college’s strategic plan process. Hundreds of people—inside the college and out—participated and helped shape the final document. So, what’s in the new plan? For that, the community will have to wait until early 2025, when the fresh document is released and a whole new chapter at Selkirk College begins.
Start your journey in 2025 by learning more about the programs at Selkirk College.
