Work integrated learning program staged at U of L

By Toyin Obatusin - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on December 7, 2024.

A City of Lethbridge program allowed students from Lethbridge Polytechnic and University of Lethbridge an opportunity to present on Thursday the importance of innovative solutions to address challenges within the community.
City Scholars is a partnership between the City and post secondary institutions in Lethbridge. The program supports the WIL project, which is a Work-Integrated Learning placement program.
The program gives students hands-on experience in the professional realm, formed around “professional and academic outcomes”. Students have the opportunity to have an impact on the wellbeing of the community with additional mentoring by City supervisors.
Erin Kennett, Work Integrated Learning Instructor at the University, spoke on the benefits of the program to these institutions.
“It’s kind of a nice way, as a partner, to show all the different ways that they have been involved with bringing students to municipal and community problems,” Kennett said.
City Scholars pair students, either in an applied studies program, co-op, course, project or internship, with hands-on workplace experience gifting students with professional and academic results.
This is a research and data driven program. The program is meant to help students feel a part of their community, know what it looks like, understand how the City operates, what’s important, and why their voices matter, as well as how to be change makers.
This is a strategic plan of the Lethbridge educational system to show students that Lethbridge is a City that values them and encourages them to utilize the skillsets learned in their different courses and programs to become assets within the community.
The structure of the City Scholars WIL project can be executed in various manners, but must be from an Applied Studies and Community Service Learning. This is a criteria required for students to be involved in these short/ or long term research projects. Professional and academic work plans are given to the students, guided by a City project lead and faculty member. Research papers, policy briefs and presentations are expected outcomes of this program. This can be done in groups or individually.
Perry Stein, Partners and Services Manager, welcomed the crowd, and thanked students and faculty for all of their hard work.
“Each student has demonstrated remarkable professionalism, flexibility, enthusiasm, and most importantly a curiosity to learn more and share their knowledge”, he said.
Being an applied researcher, Stein has been recognized by peer groups, planners, the Government of Alberta, member of the Niitsitapi | Blackfoot and Metis communities, with multiple awards and honours, including having received the blackfoot name Miistaksi’piitaa (Mountain Eagle). The City of Lethbridge project planning lead is a major persona in this initiative. He is the leader of the City’s Community Lab Applied Study program, which guides students into real-world community planning projects. He sits on the Lethbridge College Board of Governors, and is currently serving his three-year term.
Dawna Andersen, Bachelor of Management student at the U of L and partner Danny Jacobs, both focused on the 2025 municipal elections.
“Having the opportunity to increase youth engagement as it’s an ever-pressing issue of students not being able to engage in municipal politics,” said Andersen.
Both partners agreed and showed proof of statistics in their pie charts, that most youth members of the community either forget, are too busy, don’t think that it matters, or simply lack information.
Their project is based on informing and engaging this group of voters to encourage a higher turnout, with confidence. For 12 weeks they sat in on City Hall meetings, engaged with employees in the City, learned government processes, and how to pitch proposals.
Another set of students based their final project on market research based on the needs of students in regards to the City of Lethbridge Transit department.
This group included Alexandra Lennox who proudly announced “we presented our project to the Manager of Public Transit, Darwin Juell, who agreed with a lot of our findings.”
Lennox, who partnered with two other students, Annie Ebenmelu, Abel Tekle, proudly look forward to the process of bringing necessary change to their community, with Abel Tekle emphasizing that no solution comes instantly.

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