June 25, 2015
Province Announces Equipment Upgrades for Culinary Arts Program at Riverton Collegiate
– – –New Equipment Will Create Increased Opportunities for Industry Job Experience: Premier Selinger
RIVERTON—The Manitoba government is investing more than $800,000 in a new industrial kitchen for the Culinary Arts Program at Riverton Collegiate to provide more skills training opportunities for students, Premier Greg Selinger announced here today.
“The Manitoba government is focused on creating good jobs and skills-training opportunities for young people that match the needs of businesses,” said Premier Selinger. “This renovation and new equipment will help more students prepare for the growing number of opportunities in the hospitality, food service and tourism industry.”
These upgrades will be designed to accommodate up to 60 students at a time in the Culinary Arts Program, the premier noted.
“The Evergreen School Division appreciates the support of the government of Manitoba in our efforts to provide relevant and engaging learning opportunities for our students to enable them to become contributing citizens of our communities,” said Paul D. Cuthbert, superintendent and CEO, Evergreen School Division. “As a rural school division, we are committed to building learning pathways that facilitate skill building in order to meet the needs of our communities and enable them to become more sustainable. These projects will bring us closer to the realization of some of these pathways.”
Riverton Collegiate is a grade 8 to 12 school with a 2014 enrolment of 123 students. In 2012, the Evergreen School Division also received funding for a roof replacement for the school. The new industrial kitchen is expected to be completed by September2016, Premier Selinger said.
The Manitoba government has launched a comprehensive skills strategy to give students access to state-of-the-art programming and equipment that will create a pathway to post-secondary education and good jobs, the premier said.
This includes:
- a new $30-million Skill Build Shops fund to build and expand trades and skills shops in high schools;
- a new $2-million career development fund to ensure students leave high school with a good idea of where they want to go and how to get there, whether it is through a university, college, work placement or on-the-job training and apprenticeship; and
- a new $1.5-million Skill Build Equipment fund to upgrade classrooms to an apprenticeship-accredited level and bring welding, electrical, carpentry and culinary arts equipment into schools.
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