Newly appointed vice principal of North West Regional College Samantha Traynor features in the most recent edition of the Strabane Chronicle
The new vice principal of North West Regional College (NWRC), Newtownstewart woman Samantha Traynor, says she will dedicate herself to making the lives of local people better.
As she celebrated her new role, 48-year-old Mrs Traynor, a mother of three, says she will work hard to ensure that the very best opportunities are available to people locally and keep the talent pool we have here at home.
The former St Patrick’s Primary School and Loreto Grammar School pupil, whose mum Rosaleen and Brian McConnell still reside in Newtownstewart, says she will nurture connections between business and the college to ensure the very best outcome for pupils.
“I bring experience, motivation and enthusiasm to this new role as vice principal,” she says.
“I am committed to ensuring that the people of the North West region and surrounding hinterlands including my own area of West Tyrone get the best opportunities that further and higher education can offer them. Our college is a regional college, to me it is about education and skills leading to more and better jobs for our people, I want to keep our talent pool at home and to build on the very strong relationships that we already have with many key stakeholders.
“I want to continue to work closely with our local post primary schools through our work with the Derg Mourne Learning Community and our local Derry City and Strabane District Council to address the economic challenges and help to build a stronger economy in the North West and in West Tyrone through the delivery of an economically focussed curriculum and the expansion of apprenticeships aimed at raising the skills levels of our people. I also support taking learning out to the community, to the rural areas in West Tyrone including Castlederg, Aghyaran, Newtownstewart, Sion Mills and Dunamanagh through the provision of our wide range of community education programmes.
“Through our dedicated Business Support Centre, I will encourage local businesses and industry in the West Tyrone area to avail of the training and up-skilling opportunities that exist in NWRC and assist them to source funding to undertake innovative research and development activities. I will support and encourage our business support staff in assisting local companies in West Tyrone to secure the funding they need and then work with these companies to deliver tailored solutions, through our team of technical consultants and academic staff.”
Mrs Traynor says that she was inspired by her parents, who instilled a good work ethic in their daughter.
“I have always believed in the saying that 'Success is the reward for hard work' and I have been encouraged to work hard by my parents, I think my work ethic is in the genes to be honest,” she said.
“I am proud of my achievements but it is a great honour to make an impact on the lives of other people too. Seeing our students achieve and progress either into the world of work or onto a higher level of study is what my job is all about. Being able to make a difference, no matter how small, to the life of another person is such a privilege and that’s what really matters to me.”
Mrs Traynor says that her vision for the NWRC is about making people’s lives better.
“It's all about making lives better, better for the people of Strabane and the surrounding towns, villages and rural communities through our economically focussed curriculum and the expansion of apprenticeships which not only aim to raise the skills levels of those entering the workforce but also aim to raise the skills levels of those already in work and not forgetting those who are furthest from the work place either,” she says.
“Our Prince's Trust Team programme which now runs in the Strabane campus is specifically aimed at young people who have multiple barriers to participation and I want to give these young people the opportunity to get the skills they need to progress and get a job.
“I know the economic challenges that exist throughout the North West and in my own local area of West Tyrone and I believe that equipping our people with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the world of work will help to build and drive a stronger economy in the North West region.”
