Learner: Robert Melanson

Robert Melanson will always remember the winter of 2008-one snow- storm after another, plowing the roads six days a week through a brutal winter, and then retiring before the snow melted after 33 years of service with the City of Moncton. "I always enjoyed what I was doing here from labouring on cement crews to driving trucks and plowing. I go and do a job and finish it. I can see what I've done afterwards."

Robert began work with the City as a casual labourer in 1975 and later got a full-time job as a truck driver and snow plow operator. When the City started its workplace education programs as a CAMA pilot project in 1998, Robert was one of the first to sign up. By that time, all municipal work was demanding more documentation, certifications, and greater use of technology. Robert knew he wanted to improve his reading and writing, but the right program hadn't come along. "At first, I could read a bit but couldn't write much. With workplace learning I could write and explain what was wrong with the truck."

Taking on the learning challenge

As a school-age child, Robert had straddled both English and French, had a hard time learning, and left school after Grade 7. "When you don't know how to read and write, you stay in the background," Robert says. The message he sent out to people was, "don't look at me." Getting back into education changed the way he lived his life. "As I went along, I got more guts. I used to hold back but, now, I'm right out front. It's really different."

As in many workplaces, promotions within the City required high school completion. Robert challenged himself to get his Grade 12 equivalency certificate (GED) and overcame many obstacles along his six year path. Juggling work schedules and long shifts, he kept up, passing the five exams even after new GED requirements forced him to retake some of them. He achieved that first significant educational goal-getting his GED-in 2005.