Polytech orientation helps new students get settled

By Lethbridge Herald on September 3, 2025.

Lethbridge Polytechnic Community Engagement team member Lanae Morris greets both first year and returning students during New Student Orientation (NSO) Tuesday. Classes for the Faill semester begin Wednesday.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As August rolls over into September and late summer settles in, a new academic year is about to begin at Lethbridge Polytechnic. 

Final preparations for both new and returning students are underway for the first day of the fall semester classes today..

New Student Orientation (NSO) kicked-off the fall semester Tuesday morning with an all-day event that gave new students a preview of life as part of the Lethbridge Polytechnic community. Distance learning students were also welcome to attend remotely.

“As we embrace the coming fall semester, we are excited to welcome new and returning students to campus,” said Kenny Corscadden, vice-president, academic and research. “With three new programs being offered this fall in trades, health care and kinesiology and more on the horizon, now is the best time to get a career ready at Lethbridge Polytechnic.”

At noon, the halls of the Val Matteotti Gymnasium were a flurry of activity in an atmosphere of what could only be described as organized chaos. Students wearing badges that said “ask me” stood by to answer questions to students in line or walking briskly up and down the corridors. 

“There’s an energy that flows in the hallways when students are here: one full of opportunity, excitement and ambition,” said Heather Cummings, associate vice-president – student experience. “Our goal is to ensure students are prepared for what happens next and

we’re ready to guide them toward that future.”

“It’s interesting…a little nervous with how many people here,” said first-year student Spencer Van Schothorst, who went to high school in Coaldale.

First-year students going from the small pond of high school and into the much bigger lake of higher education can experience much stress and anxiety, especially those away from home for the first time or who come from small towns. 

Along the walls of the hallways were many tables for organizations offering students assistance in academics, personal wellness, community engagement and other supports. Carmen Guenther was one of the staff at the Wellness Services table. 

“People come to Wellness services about really small things and really big things,” said Guenther. “So it can just be that they’re feeling overwhelmed or homesick.

“We see (being here) as a really important part of a students orientation. So students know about the support available to them when things might get stressful for them or they already know that they’re a student who may need that extra support, that they’re aware of what’s available right off the bat. And then we’re going to be around all throughout the year to make sure they don’t forget.”

On a lighter side of orientation, the Community Engagement team was there to, among other things, pitch the upcoming Coulee Fest on Sept. 13. 

“We love seeing everyone on campus that you know the fresh faces, the faces of the second year students are sometimes here as well,” says coordinator Taylor Beret. “So it’s so great to see them helping out the first years but having the first years here, you know, everyone’s so nervous, but everyone’s in it together.

“Our team here is really to show the entire community that Lethbridge Polytechnic is not just for the students and the staff here, it’s for the entire community. You know, we’re a part of the community, we want the community to know. They’re always welcome here and seeing what we can do for them and just.”

Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Coulee Fest is a free, annual, family-friendly community festival held on campus that celebrates local food, music, and fun for all ages.

Launched in 2017 to thank the community, it has become an annual end-of-summer and back-to-school tradition featuring live music, local vendors, craft beer gardens, food trucks, a petting zoo and more.