New and returning trustees with the Red River Technical Vocational Area's (RRTVA) partner school divisions were given a glimpse into a day in the life of a student in the program.
    
The group, along with senior administration officials, loaded up onto a bus that is part of the program's shuttle network and traveled over 200 kms across the four divisions with quick stops at all 14 of the RRTVA's program locations in an Amazing Race-style day.

"We wanted to expose the trustees, so they know how the transportation system works," explained RRTVA Coordinator, Lane Curry. "Hopefully they appreciate the network and the things we've put in place."

Throughout the day-long tour, the group made 5-minute stops at each of the RRTVA's program locations across the region where they heard about each program and what it takes to make it happen.

"It's a sensory tour," said Curry. "You can smell the place, you can see the place, you can feel the enthusiasm, hopefully, from our instructors. They could see the students in action in some of the programs when we were able to go through them, so I think that was good. And I think everyone needs to know that these four divisions all work together regionally even though they are responsible for their own programs. They've invested in the resources and infrastructure so it's for them to see the big picture."

RRTVA

As a school division administrator in another part of Manitoba for the past seven years, Dan Ward says he's often heard of the collaborative effort that is the RRTVA here in the Pembina and Red River valleys.
    
Ward, who is now the Superintendent for Garden Valley School Division, was part of the tour group and says the day was a great opportunity to see all of the programs throughout the region.

"I think the takeaway is how important the ongoing communication is," he said. "It's no small feat to have four school divisions work together along with DSFM (Division scolaire franco-manitobaine) to make this work. It takes a lot of coordination amongst the trustees, the RRTVA reps that sit as trustees, the senior administration team and of course, the teachers and the principals. They all do an amazing job of it but it requires these types of activities to keep not only everybody in the loop about what's going on, to learn about the partnerships, but to keep the communication going."

John Klassen is a trustee for GVSD, and he said he was once again amazed by the diversity of the RRTVA programs and by the coordination of it.

"It really is quite a complex thing to even watch the buses connect with each other and how students are transported between the four divisions," he explained. "The only shortage today was that we could have easily spent twenty minutes at each place so that we could have asked a lot more questions, but it was a wonderful day."

Grade 8 students in each of the partner divisions that are interested in possibly enrolling in the RRTVA next year will get their own opportunity to get a feel for the high school programming during their own tours set for January and February.

RRTVAThe group, along with senior administration officials, loaded up onto a bus that is part of the program's shuttle network. (Supplied photo).