The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Al Hawkins, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour:
Mr. Speaker, in March students from this province competed in the Enactus Canada Regional Exhibition held in Halifax. Among them were students from College of the North Atlantic’s Grand Falls-Windsor campus.
The Enactus Grand Falls-Windsor team included many first-year students who had never competed in an exhibition before and they did exceptionally well. The team won the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge. They placed second behind Memorial University in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge, and also took second in the Capital One Financial Education Challenge.
Winning the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge also qualified this outstanding group of students to compete in the Enactus National Exhibition held in Toronto May 14-16, where they received the Spirit Award in their respective league competition.
I am very proud to say the President of Enactus Grand Falls-Windsor was also named HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow. Crystal Ford is a second-year Business Management student at College of the North Atlantic and this honour provides significant rewards for her and the team. For the next 12 months, Crystal will be paired with a woman leader to help develop her leadership skills and she has earned a prize of $1,000 for herself and $2,500 for Enactus Grand Falls-Windsor.
As I know many of my Honourable colleagues would agree, celebrating the accomplishments and exciting potential of our province’s students is one of the great rewards of our work. Education is the passport to a brighter future for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
During May and June, graduation ceremonies will be held at College of the North Atlantic’s campuses throughout the province. These graduates are well educated, highly skilled, and prepared to capitalize on the numerous opportunities that exist in our province, today, and in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I ask all my Honourable colleagues to join me in congratulating the students and graduates of College of the North Atlantic.
Thank you.