Assiniboine announces 2017 Parkland Regional Alumni Award Recipients

Assiniboine Community College’s Alumni Association has just announced the recipients of this year’s Parkland Region Alumni Awards to be presented at the annual Parkland Region Alumni Celebration in Dauphin on April 6, 2017.

This year’s recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award is Terance Lacquette. The award honours alumni of the college in the Parkland Region who had distinguished themselves in both their chosen profession and the community. It recognizes the outstanding personal and professional achievements of the college’s finest graduates.

Lacquette is a graduate of the 2013 Carpentry Woodworking program. After graduation, he started his own construction company, Lacquette Construction, where he has hired a crew of Assiniboine graduates.

The One to Watch Award recognizes exceptional achievement and significant contribution to the recipient’s profession and/or community. The Alumni Association is pleased to announce that Ryan Balak is this year’s recipient graduating from the Business Administration program, specializing in Management, in 2008.

Balak is the Business Development Coordinator at Community Futures Parkland and helps with the overall economic growth of the Parkland Region. Owning the “smallest farm in the Parkland” he still makes time to volunteer with the Kinsmen Club of Grandview, rec bingo and dressing up as Santa for various functions in the community.

The Excellence in Teaching Award honours a faculty member for extraordinary contributions to teaching and the student experience. Carpentry instructor Stuart Sinclair is the recipient of this year’s award.

Sinclair has been teaching in the program since 2004 and embraced the college’s philosophy of ‘learn by doing’ by creating a project that would have students build a house. This bold project took considerable time and creativity to establish financing, assessment procedures, curriculum changes and a community partnership with Dauphin Consumers Co-op Home Builders before becoming a reality

Award recipients will be formally recognized at the Parkland Region Alumni Dinner on Thursday, April 6, 2017, at the Lion’s Den, Parkland Recreation Complex.

For event details or to purchase tickets for the dinner, please contact Ashley Sidlar at 204.622.2222.

Above: (left) Distinguished Alumni Terance Lacquette; (right) One to Watch recipient Ryan Balak.

Below: Excellence in Teaching recipient Stuart Sinclair.