Grad Success Stories
Our grad success stories include graduates who have gone on to achieve success after graduation from the program. Here are just a few of their success stories.
Sheri Matte was hired after graduating from the Police Foundations program as a Protective Services Guard with Paladin and contracted to guard at the Wainwright Hospital. Sheri is a military spouse and soon after graduating, she and her husband were posted to Winnipeg. One of the wonderful features of this diploma is that it is nationally recognized and exceptionally transferable no matter where you might live in Canada.
Sheri was recently nominated and awarded Employee of the Month for October, because of a situation that she dealt with at the hospital. Matte is now the Coordinator at Battle River Victim Assistance Society, RCMP Detachment.
“The Police Foundations program has opened a lot of doors for me, and I cannot wait to update you on my future endeavors.”
-Sheri Matte, 2016
Dallas MacLeod (2013) graduated from our Police Foundations program in 2013. By 2015 he had been hired by the Ontario Provincial Police and he attributes a portion of this to the fact that our program fostered opportunities to volunteer and gain community experiences. Dallas shared with us the “volunteering is a huge consideration by police forces when it comes to hiring. I was able in my two years to accumulate 3040 hours of volunteer time. Most of these hours were done with the Red Cross and a lot of hours were completed through Dan Labelle, Police Foundations Coordinator and his tireless efforts to get us involved in the Pembroke community. I was not trying to set any records when I started my student experience hours, and it is not about a record, but more about giving back to a community and realizing that you can make a difference with such a small sacrifice.”
– Dallas MacLeod, Community Volunteer Program Award recipient
Constable Kevin Francis (2010) is still adjusting to the frigid temperatures and only five hours of sunlight each day, but he is thrilled to have launched his policing career in one of Ontario’s most remote regions. The Algonquin College Pembroke Campus Police Foundations graduate is part of the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service and is posted in the Northern Ontario Aboriginal community of Sandy Lake, where the winter daily highs are normally -30 Celcius.
“It’s a fly-in community,” says Francis, where police officers learn quickly how to problem solve. “It’s not an easy place to get to, so if you are in an emergency situation, you need to think quickly and perform to the best of your ability, because it may be a while before help arrives,” adds Francis. Read more about Constable Kevin Francis’ journey.
Gerry Benoit (2012) works as a Commissionaire where he provides security services, including guarding, consulting, and investigations while preventing and diffuse conflicts on one of Canada’s biggest Canadian Forces bases, Garrison Petawawa.
At Gerry’s core, he is a community-minded person who actively supports and educates the aboriginal youth. Gerry was recently recognized as one of the top basketball coaches in Ontario after being one of nine coaches from across the province to receive one of the 2015 Ontario Coaching Excellence Awards. Gerry will be coaching the Ontario U-14 basketball team in the 2017 North American Indigenous Games, being held in Toronto next summer.
Benoit has partnered with the Aboriginal Sport and Wellness Council for Ontario, which is the governing body of aboriginal sporting events and helps out by running the basketball programs within the aboriginal multi-sport camps held throughout the province.