Last week, Mayor Myron Dyck was invited on a tour of the Bayer Crop Science research facility at the University of Manitoba, a place where he hopes to make a big impact. He was joined by Hanover School Division’s superintendent, Joe Thiessen.

The goal, for Dyck, was to drive home an idea that’s been simmering for a while now: turning Niverville High School into a regional trades and technology hub.

“The SRSS in Steinbach is full,” Dyck says. “We have the opportunity here in Niverville to have vocational training for our kids.”

He gives the example of Grade 12 students at the SRSS who are able to complete the credits they need for graduation in their first semester and fill the last semester with training as a healthcare aid, making them vocation-ready by the time they graduate.

“We don’t wish to duplicate what’s going on at the SRSS,” says Dyck. “We’re looking to augment. So if there are things that are not being offered there, why can they not be offered here?”

Early childcare educator training, he says, is just one example which would, in turn, improve Niverville’s opportunity to provide more daycare spaces to families.

In the past year, HSD’s board of directors began entertaining the idea of adding agricultural courses to the division’s curriculum. If that’s an option, Dyck says, why not consider aerospace or AI, or other areas of modern-day skill development which could be offered in a variety of schools throughout the division?

It’s even possible, he says, that spreading out the vocational training would save the division bussing costs over the long run.

“We would love to see nothing more than Niverville students be able to stay in Niverville and not always have to leave to go and get further education,” Dyck says. “Not everything has to be in Steinbach. We have the means, we have the people, and we have the knowledge to do it here.”