Articles tagged "OC Foundation"
Okanagan College to graduate hundreds of new Health Care Assistants through innovative provincial program
February 24, 2022
When 29-year-old Shanise Scherk graduates this month as a Health Care Assistant (HCA), she is excited to start caring for seniors and other clients living in their homes. While working full time since high school, Scherk had always dreamed of having a career in health care. So, when she learned about a new Okanagan College program that offered paid training and work experience to become an HCA, she jumped at the chance to follow that dream. “It was such an incredible opportunity to receive an education and get hired right away,” s...
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Meet Katie Newman, Board Director at the Okanagan College Foundation
February 17, 2022
Q: What is your name? A: Katie Newman What are your pronouns? A: She, her Where do you work? A: I am a Director of Financial Planning and Advice Effectiveness with CIBC. Why did you want to join the Okanagan College Foundation board? A: The opportunity to impact change in my community and help to support the students' journey was very appealing to me. Q: Our mission is to support the transformative power of education. What drives your passion for education? A: Education...
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Generous gift will advance OC health-care education
January 19, 2022
A local family foundation is investing in the future of health-care education with a generous gift to Okanagan College. The Merrifield Family Foundation is donating $100,000 to the Our ɫɫɫƬ, Your Health campaign for a modern Health Sciences Centre on the College’s Kelowna campus. The gift will support technology upgrades and new equipment for eight professions ranging from Pharmacy Technician Assistants and nurses to Therapist Assistants. Lane Merrifield, a well-known entrepreneur, says he values the College's focus on applie...
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OC business students seek community support to launch investment fund
January 5, 2022
Justin Rantucci and Steven Fiust speak highly of their education at Okanagan College, but there is one thing they would like to change. When networking with other finance students at post-secondary institutions across Canada, they learned that schools with a student-run investment fund seemed to result in a better transition to finance careers for their graduates. Seeing an opportunity to provide hands-on experience for more OC students while building capacity locally, Rantucci, Fiust and fellow student Riley Dunsmore are lo...
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OC’s Health Sciences Centre receives LEED gold certification
December 23, 2021
Okanagan College’s leadership as a champion of sustainability continues after receiving another LEED certification for the new Health Sciences Centre (HSC), which officially opened at the Kelowna campus in October. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the most widely used green building rating system that certifies the level of sustainability-related features incorporated in a building’s design. The HSC building joins several other buildings at three Okanagan College campuses that have already received certifica...
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The Okanagan Sikh Temple and Cultural Society gives boost to health care students
December 22, 2021
A $25,000 gift from the Okanagan Sikh Temple and Cultural Society will empower health care students as they pursue their education at Okanagan College. The Sikh Community began collecting donations from their congregation to support the College's $5-million Our ɫɫɫƬ, Your Health campaign and was able to raise the funds in six months. Amarjit Singh Lalli, President of the Okanagan Gurduara, says their community believes in the importance of acquiring knowledge and passing it on to future generations, which made it easy to get b...
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Soaring Indigenous sculpture unveiled in OC's new Health Sciences Centre
November 3, 2021
A nine metre (30 foot), hand-cut metal sculpture by local Indigenous artist Clint George is now installed and proudly on display in Okanagan College's new Health Sciences Centre. The sculpture represents the Four Food Chiefs, and depicts the Syilx Okanagan oral history (or captikʷɬ) on how food was given. James Coble, Director of Student Services and Indigenization Task Force Chair at Okanagan College, says the sculpture demonstrates the College’s commitment to creating welcoming spaces for Indigenous students. “The opportunity t...
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RBC invests in Okanagan College's future
October 27, 2021
A $75,000 gift from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will support the growth of Okanagan College now and into the future. RBC in British Columbia is contributing $35,000 to the Our ɫɫɫƬ, Your Health campaign for the new Health Sciences Centre on the Kelowna campus while $40,000 will support future investment in the campus. According to Courtney Hesse, RBC’s Regional Vice President for the Okanagan and Kootenays, supporting the College aligns strongly with RBC's focus on empowering youth for the jobs of tomorrow. “Okanagan Colle...
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Lawren Richards
September 3, 2021
“I am a single mom to 17-year-old twins. We had been living in a 400-square-foot cabin about an hour from town when an opportunity came up that would allow me to purchase some land and build my own home closer to town and my kids’ school. I have always been interested in natural building but I don’t have a carpentry background so I enrolled in the Carpenter Foundation program in Salmon Arm. I was the only woman in the class and much older than my classmates, so I w...
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Ty Sideroff
September 3, 2021
“I have always been interested in our anatomy and exercising so I enrolled in OC’s Kinesiology Diploma program. My first year was going really well, then COVID-19 hit. I was able to finish the first year in an online format. However, starting school in September completely online, I was struggling to stay engaged with my studies. Before COVID, many of our classes would be active and in the gym. I found it hard to stay present with everything online and not having the sa...
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Saige Girouard, Red River, Métis Nation
September 3, 2021
“In my second year of studies I connected with a classmate over our shared curiosity to learn more about our Indigenous backgrounds. I’m Métis, but my family didn’t practice Indigenous customs. My classmate went on to be very successful in reconnecting with her culture. Watching her hit those milestones I knew that if she could do it, I could do it too. I’d say the tipping point for me was winning a bursary from Okanagan College to attend the Indigenous Women’s Leadersh...
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Gift from dentalcorp to support critical skills shortage
August 27, 2021
With shortages of Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) across Canada, dentalcorp is investing in a local solution with a gift to the Our ɫɫɫƬ, Your Health campaign. Canada's leading and fastest-growing network of dental practices, dentalcorp is giving $35,000 in support of a new dental clinic inside Okanagan College's Health Sciences Centre. The modern clinic will educate CDAs for the Okanagan and beyond. “It’s important to our network and our industry as a whole to foster innovative, best-in-class professional development, amon...
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Jillian Harris sets up award fund to support underrepresented students
August 20, 2021
A much-coveted subscription box from Canadian influencer and Kelowna local Jillian Harris will open up more than just surprises for recipients, but opportunities to support a generation of historically excluded students at Okanagan College with every subscription sold. Jillian Harris, through her fall Jilly Box, is raising $50,000 to create awards for Indigenous students, Black students and students of Colour at Okanagan College. The Jilly Box is seeding the fund with $15,000 and subsequently, will match donations up t...
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Skogie’s 50th anniversary adds shine to student experience
July 28, 2021
Skogie’s car washes are celebrating 50 years of business by making the ride for Okanagan College students a little easier. For every year the family-run business has been in operation, Skogie’s is donating $1,000 to Okanagan College — for a total of $50,000 in honour of their half-century anniversary. “We've hired a lot of Okanagan College students over the years,” says David Skoglund, who founded the company in 1971. “We want to support young people and help them get ahead and we also wanted to give back to our community.” The ...
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Alumnus gives dose of support to Pharmacy Technician students
July 16, 2021
The CEO of Catalyst Healthcare is giving Pharmacy Technician students a dose of support with a gift to the Our ɫɫɫƬ, Your Health campaign. Shane Bishop, founder and CEO of Catalyst Healthcare, is donating $30,000 in support of Okanagan College’s Health Sciences Centre on the Kelowna campus. Bishop spent his first two years of post-secondary at the College, and the gift is his way of paying it forward to the organization and its students. “Okanagan College provides access to future careers and I wanted to be part of supportin...
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Oral surgeons give to thank Certified Dental Assistants
July 6, 2021
A local oral surgery group with offices in Kelowna and Vernon is investing in the education of Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) with a gift to Okanagan College’s Our ɫɫɫƬ, Your Health campaign. Dr. Richard Bell, Dr. Russell Naito and Dr. Tom White of Okanagan Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates are donating $30,000 to support a state-of-the-art dental clinic in the College’s new Health Sciences Centre. The surgeons say the gift is a way to recognize and celebrate the work of their current staff and past employees. “We...
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