Articles tagged "Kelowna"
Preparing students for the evolving workforce: 51Ʒ hosts region-wide open houses
January 22, 2025
51Ʒ is setting the stage for students to excel in an evolving workforce. The College invites the community to its 2025 Open House events, showcasing how education at OC empowers learners to adapt, innovate, and thrive in a world reshaped by technology, societal changes, and the future of work.This January and February, OC will host a series of open houses across all campuses, starting with the Vernon campus on January 28.Events schedule:Vernon Campus: Tues., Jan. 28 from 5 - 7p.m.Kelowna Campus: Thurs., J...
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51Ʒ and Westbank First Nation Celebrate Naming Ceremony at Kelowna Campus
December 6, 2024
Members of Westbank First Nation along with 51Ʒ students, employees and local community members came together at 51Ʒ’s Kelowna campus for an historic announcement as Westbank First Nation Elders provided two Syilx Okanagan names for the newly opened student housing building on the Kelowna campus.In providing the names, Syilx Okanagan Nation Elders Pamela and Grouse Barnes considered the design of the building, which includes an Indigenous feather design created by Syilx artist Clint George on the exterior a...
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Countdown is on for move-in to new student housing at 51Ʒ
March 27, 2024
When the fall term starts in September, the number of students living on campus at 51Ʒ in Kelowna will more than double.A new student housing building at the corner of K.L.O. Road and Campus West Road is still a few months away from being move-in-ready; however, OC is anticipating a construction-related milestone in the coming weeks, with the building nearing “substantial completion.”The six-storey building includes elements of mass timber and features unique design elements from two well-known Indigenous artists. It wi...
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51Ʒ Coyotes to host PACWEST Basketball Championships
February 28, 2024
The 51Ʒ Coyotes are excited to host the women’s and men’s PACWEST basketball provincial championship tournament beginning this Thursday at Kelowna Christian School.The three-day championship tournament will feature four games a day concluding with the medal games on Saturday. The women’s bracket will begin each day at 12:30 p.m. and conclude each night with the men’s bracket at 8:00 p.m.The Coyotes will welcome the six-team bracket to Kelowna for the first time in school history. Teams will battle for the Conference gol...
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Bridging the way to success: Emil Anderson Construction gives $75,000 to modernize 51Ʒ’s Civil Engineering Technology Program
April 17, 2023
If you walk past 51Ʒ’s Kelowna campus on a weekday afternoon, you’re sure to see Civil Engineering Technology students spread out across the grounds, gathering environmental data using surveying equipment. This skill is essential to their education and will one day help them shape our built environments. Thanks to a generous $75,000 gift from Emil Anderson Construction, students will have increased access to state-of-the-art surveying equipment to train on by fall of 2023. “We are proud to support 51Ʒ’s Ci...
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OC Foundation chair’s book launch supports students in need
March 27, 2023
Honouring the past and supporting the future: Connie Denesiuk’s new book has ambitious goals. The Chair of the 51Ʒ Foundation Board is launching a book next month about a story close to her heart, with the hope it will benefit the community around her. ‘Til Papa Returns; Surviving as a child refugee in WWII is the true story of Alfred Columbus, the youngest of eight children and father to Denesiuk. Alfred was learning how to farm the land their family had worked for more than 200 years, following advice and guidanc...
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Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest serves up fun and learning at OC
March 3, 2023
Friday marked a triumphant return for a popular pasta-themed community event at 51Ʒ, as the 38th annual Spaghetti Bridge Building Competition brought loads of fun and friendly competition to a boil. More than 250 students from elementary through post-secondary converged on OC’s Kelowna campus on Mar. 3, to see whose spaghetti bridge would reign supreme. In addition to furthering their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), participants of the contest – back for the first time since pre-pandemi...
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OC’s Red Dot Players present The Beast of Blackthorn Manor
March 1, 2023
Spring may be in like a lion out like a lamb, but a different beast is on the prowl at 51Ʒ this month, courtesy of OC’s theatre troupe. The Red Dot Players are excited to present the premiere production of The Beast of Blackthorn Manor, a new comedy by 51Ʒ English professor Jeremy Beaulne. The plot promises to delight fans of gothic literature and those new to the genre: When she accepts a position at Blackthorn Manor, an isolated manor house in the Yorkshire moors, governess Charlotte Vole has no idea t...
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Plasma donor drive campaign boosts OC nursing student with $3,000 bursary
February 22, 2023
51Ʒ nursing student Taylor Hubick learned a valuable lesson this year: persistence with plasma donation pays off. Hubick is the recipient of the Canadian Blood Services bursary of $3,000 for her studies in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, for recruiting 23 plasma donors between May and October last year. Hubick says she originally got recruited to donate by a friend who was studying on Vancouver Island. “She pulled out of the challenge because she was going travelling, and that’s when I realized I s...
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College students mentoring high school peers for Sustainable Development Challenge
February 17, 2023
It’s students helping students tackle the biggest issues of our time. 51Ʒ (OC) students have joined forces with youth leaders in Grades 8 to 12 in the Central Okanagan to provide mentorship on projects that will impact the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The high school teams are preparing for a local Sustainable Development Challenge event, inspired by the UN initiative, and are able to bounce their ideas and projects off OC students prior to the challenge finale later this month. VIDEO: OC ...
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OC's Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest set to return for 38th year this spring
February 13, 2023
Spaghetti is back on the menu at 51Ʒ this spring.A fixture on the spring calendar in the Okanagan for nearly four decades, the College's popular Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest will return this March for the first time since 2020.OC will host the 38th annual contest on Friday, March 3 at the Kelowna campus. Organizers are putting the call out to teachers and students from elementary through post-secondary to participate.Students can enter the following competitions:Elementary School Students: Elementary School Demonst...
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51Ʒ’s 15th annual Business Expo and Employment Fair returns on Feb. 1
January 18, 2023
For those on the hunt for a new job – or wondering about the educational pathway to kickstart a career change – one of 51Ʒ’s most popular community events is back and bigger than ever in 2022. OC’s Business Expo & Employment Fair will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Centre for Learning (E Building) Atrium and in the Trades (T Building) Atrium at the Kelowna Campus, 1000 KLO Rd. The Expo is presented by the College’s School of Business, in collaboration with OC’s Trades and Apprentice...
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Former ‘Top Chef’ takes the reins at 51Ʒ’s Infusions restaurant
January 17, 2023
Fans of Canada’s Top Chef will recognize the name of the new Executive Chef at Infusions. Ruth Wigman, whose 20-year career has taken her coast to coast, brings a fresh and exciting perspective to the restaurant at 51Ʒ staffed by Culinary Arts students. Wigman, who was a contestant on the Food Network’s Canada’s Top Chef program in 2014, most recently worked as the executive sous-chef at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport for over three years. Before that, she worked at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and the Fairmount Sout...
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51Ʒ Foundation distributes over $450,000 in student awards in under two weeks
December 6, 2022
The holiday spirit came early for 51Ʒ students who were the recipients of 426 bursary, scholarship and awards this past month, which totalled over $450,000. Students also had the chance to meet the donors who support the bursaries, scholarships and awards at receptions held at each of 51Ʒ’s Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton campuses in November. Each event included an Indigenous welcome, student and donor speakers and most significantly, time for all invited guests to connect and celebrate a shared commitment...
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Partnership helping to fill staffing gaps in hospitality and tourism industry
December 1, 2022
Like many industries, the hospitality and tourism sector has been hard hit by staff shortages over the past few years with a declining youth population and an aging workforce combining to create significant challenges. But a new program designed in partnership by 51Ʒ (OC) and the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) will help to reduce those shortages. The first of four new cohorts of students enrolled in the Hospitality Professional Program this fall, a flexible program open to students anywhere in the Thom...
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Alumni engagement poll
November 21, 2022
The 51Ʒ Alumni Association invites alumni to participate in a quick poll. It will help assess the current state of alumni engagement at 51Ʒ and establish a baseline for future tracking. OCAA is hoping to engage current OC employees who are also alumni, who may not receive messages. The survey should take approximately 2-4 minutes. To ensure confidentiality, your responses to this survey will be anonymized and combined with those of other respondents. Complete the survey by Tuesday, Dec. 6. To participate...
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