Roughly 80 people packed NWCC Terrace Campus longhouse Waap Galts'ap April 27 during the Points North event celebrating the Social Service Worker program milestone.
The Social Service Worker (SSW) program at Northwest Community College (NWCC) hosted an all-day event today in celebration of the program's 30th anniversary.
Points North proved more than just a celebration, however, as the roughly 80 registrants began the day with a series of professional development workshops put on by facilitators from Northern Health Authority, BC Ministry of Children and Family Development, Kermode Friendship Society and Kitimat Valley Institute. The workshops covered four topics: Avoiding Burnout/Self Care; Prevention & Management of Aggressive Behaviour: Effects of Trauma; and FASD 101.
Among the many participants were current NWCC and UNBC social work students, alumni from both programs and local social workers in general.
The event kicked off with speeches from NWCC SSW program coordinator Karen Chrysler, program alumni and Kitsumkalum matriarch Vera Dudoward, NWCC Vice President of Education Beverly Moore-Garcia and representatives from UNBC's Social Work program, Chair Dawn Hemmingway and Dr. Bruce Bidgood.
UNBC Social Work program helped in the event's planning and co-sponsored, along with the BC Association of Social Workers.
The evening event was an alumni fundraiser social at Waap Galts’ap, the Terrace Campus longhouse. All event proceeds will go to the newly established SSW program student bursary.
NWCC representatives said they hoped to make Points North a bi-annual event, so that first and second-year students would get a chance to attend at least once.
NWCC's SSW program offers a one-year certificate and two-year diploma, both of which are designed for students who wish to obtain training and skills in social services.
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