{"id":30641,"date":"2022-08-11T23:02:04","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T02:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=30641"},"modified":"2022-08-11T23:02:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T02:02:04","slug":"inaugural-class-from-n-s-spca-college-of-animal-welfare-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=30641","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural class from N.S. SPCA College of Animal Welfare graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;148&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;127&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DARTMOUTH:<\/strong> Eight Veterinary Assistants were part of history on Aug. 9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The eight were the inaugural graduates of Vet Assistants from the N.S. SPCA College of Animal Welfare. They received their diplomas during a ceremony in the auditorium at the N.S. SPCA Vet hospital in Dartmouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As one of the speakers said, for an organization that is 145 years old it\u2019s hard to be part of something new. The eight were part of that new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The eight graduates: Allison Leonard; Brianna Parsons; Emily Hathaway; Jay Keddy; Julia Kuhn; Madison Crotty; Makenzy Boudreau; and Yoojeong \u2018Amy\u2019 Choi, who was chosen as Valedictorian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_8132-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30652\"\/><figcaption>Emily Hathaway. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;31&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;72&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Choi gave an inspiring speech virtually to her fellow graduates and the crowd on hand at the SPCA auditorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The college, an independent post-secondary institution, is one of the spaces where the Nova Scotia SPCA is working to meet the needs of animals, families, and the veterinary medicine sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe had three goals when we began planning for the College,\u201d said Elizabeth Murphy, President of the college and CEO of the Nova Scotia SPCA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFirst, we wanted to meet the needs of veterinary hospitals and shelters, which are seeing gaps in qualified employees. Our second goal was to create a fulsome program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cVeterinary Assistants help with the front and back of the house, so the curriculum had to cover both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFinally, we wanted to provide our students with an extraordinary educational opportunity, from instructors to class sizes, to the environment in which our students would learn best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_8153-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30643\"\/><figcaption>Brianna Parsons. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;84&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;34&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_8143-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30647\"\/><figcaption>Madison Crotty. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Student Madison Crotty knew after volunteering with animals, that this was a career for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI saw that it takes a special person to work with animals and I could do it,\u201d said Crotty. \u201cWhen I heard about the Nova Scotia SPCA College of Animal Welfare I had to apply, because I know that the SPCA provides the best care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the year, students took a variety of classes from animal care and handling to business administration and customer service. The learning wasn\u2019t just in the classroom though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe did several trips over the year to see Veterinary Assistants working in the field,\u201d Associate Director of Veterinary Education Programs Jen Welshman said. \u201cWhat is unique about the Nova Scotia SPCA College of Animal Welfare is the hands-on learning that students receive within the organization itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate group=&#8221;7&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;92&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStudents are able to work with veterinary medicine teams at the SPCA Dartmouth Shelter, and the SPCA Veterinary Hospital, both within steps from the college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_8232-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30644\"\/><figcaption>The grads outside the SPCA in their scrubs. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>All eight students received job offers before their graduation. Many will continue to work within the SPCA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The college has applications open for the next class of Veterinary Assistants beginning in September. In 2023, the Nova Scotia SPCA plans to grow the college by adding a veterinary technician program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;169&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;95&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;174&#8243;]<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;148&#8243;] [adrotate banner=&#8221;127&#8243;] DARTMOUTH: Eight Veterinary Assistants were part of history on Aug. 9. The eight were the inaugural graduates of Vet Assistants from the N.S. SPCA College of Animal Welfare. They received their diplomas during a ceremony in the auditorium at the N.S. SPCA Vet hospital in Dartmouth. As one of the speakers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[4031,50,48,1260,4032],"class_list":["post-30641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-college-of-animal-welfare","tag-halifax","tag-n-s","tag-n-s-spca","tag-vet-assistants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}