Durham College (DC) is excited to announce the launch of Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community, it’s first-ever crowdfunding campaign. Inspired by the college’s commitment  to bring field to fork, the vision of bringing locally sourced, quality produce from field to table, to Durham Region, the online campaign aims to garner support from the community for the completion of the landscaping and planting needed at the Centre for Food (CFF). A new learning facility created in direct response to the demand of the local culinary, hospitality, tourism, agriculture and horticulture sectors that opened to students in September 2013, the CFF houses both Bistro ’67, a teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a unique retail store that brings student-created goods straight from the culinary classroom to the community.

Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community offers a unique opportunity to support many aspects of the CFF’s landscaping including the planting of trees, shrubs, fruits, vegetables and arboretum; garden tools; a walking path; new soil; and more, all of which will be used by the college’s CFF students, engaging them in the growing, harvesting, storing, processing, packaging and selling of delicious food.

Crowdfunding works by identifying a specific initiative(s) or project(s) online and making its intended purpose and details available and accessible to prospective donors.  Interested individuals have the option to choose any project(s) they would like to support.

Supported by ambassador and celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy, the CFF can accommodate approximately 900 students studying in programs based on the field-to-fork concept, completing the full cycle of farming to the preparation, serving and celebration of food. This includes:

• Cook – Apprenticeship
• Culinary Management
• Culinary Skills
• Event Management
• Horticulture – Food and Farming
• Horticulture Technician
• Hospitality Management – Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism
• Hospitality Skills
• Pharmaceutical and Food Science Technology
• Pharmaceutical and Food Science Technology (compressed, fast-track)
• Special Events Planning

“From a philanthropic perspective it is our hope that Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community will support the link between the college and our community by offering donors an opportunity to provide financial assistance to any project where they have a special interest,” said David Chambers, associate vice-president, Office of Development, DC.

Officially launching today, the campaign is being rolled out to alumni, donors, faculty, staff, students, community members and the general public. For more information on how the college is changing the way our local communities eat and grow food, please visit the Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community website.

“There are 15 landscaping projects to choose from including a Culinary Herb Garden, Kitchen Garden, Arboretum, Pollinator Garden and more,” added Chambers. “By helping to support the completion of the landscaping at the Centre for Food, donors will help us strengthen field to fork in Durham Region including providing our students with first-hand experience in the planting, growing and cultivating of plants, fruits and vegetables via enriched, real-world curriculum and an outdoor extension to the indoor classroom.”

Although there have been no reported cases of the Ebola Virus in Canada, the Campus Health Centre is taking this opportunity to inform everyone about the signs and symptoms, as well as the possible methods of transmission of this viral disease.

The Ebola Virus is a viral illness primarily transmitted through direct contact with blood and body fluids/excretions of infected people, as well as contact with environmental surfaces contaminated with these fluids.

Symptoms are similar to most other viral infections such as: fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat associated with recent travel to and from endemic areas. Symptoms usually occur within two to 21 days of being infected.

Please be mindful that the Public Health Agency of Canada has issued a Travel Health Notice advising Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

We encourage all members of the Durham College community to continue to exercise good hygiene and remember that close observation is essential in detecting this virus.

Please refer to the Durham Region Health Department for more information.

On July 30, Durham College (DC) announced its new Experience DC campaign, a progressive marketing campaign launching Tuesday, September 2 and running through August 2015.  Featuring a unique group of DC students who share their college experience through a website, personal interaction and a variety of social media platforms including blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Experience DC is designed to bring the college experience to current and prospective students; parents; teachers; and the community.

Beginning today, Experience DC is introducing its team of students starting with James, known for his quirky and fun-loving nature and fondness for being behind or in front of the camera.

A new team member will be revealed every weekday until Friday, August 29 so be sure to visit the Experience DC website to get to know James and the rest of this incredible group of students to follow and share in their experience over the coming year. 

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first, a mission that we are taking to heart with the introduction of the Experience DC campaign this fall!

Launching Tuesday, September 2 and running through August 2015, Experience DC will feature a unique group of DC students, each with their own perspective, who will be sharing their college experience through a variety of media platforms and personal interaction including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This includes the new DC Experience website where current and prospective students; parents; teachers; and the community can connect with these amazing students – representing a wide cross-section of programs, personal interests and personalities – and share in their experiences over the coming year.

Please visit the Experience DC website to meet this dynamic group and follow and enjoy their stories this fall.

In the meantime, check out the site for a sneak peek at what Experience DC is all about!

Benjamin Lewis, manager and chef de cuisine at Durham College’s (DC) Bistro ’67, went head-to-head with fellow culinary competitors and came out on top at the first-ever Sysco Sliced competition hosted by DC and the Centre for Food on July 21 and 22.

Local chefs from restaurants including Melanie Pringles, the Lake Grill, KB Restaurant and the Brock House in Whitby; Magwyers Pub in Ajax; Port Restaurant in Pickering; and the Oshawa Golf Course all participated in the heated battle, with DC students from the Culinary Management program acting  as sous-chefs during the entire competition.

The two-day event began with four chefs battling it out to move to the next round of the competition, with each chef having to plate appetizer, entrée and dessert dishes. After each course, a chef was ‘sliced’ or cut from the contest. Every round included new challenges and a mystery box holding four key ingredients that each chef used to execute their dish, incorporating fresh as well as prepared foods.

Day 1’s appetizer course included crab meat, jalapeno poppers, cauliflower purée and processed cheese spread; the entrée combined frosted breakfast cereal, cape capensis, ribbon-sliced cheddar and chorizo sausage; and the dessert course featured bacon, peanut butter, evaporated milk and kaisers. While all dishes had their own unique spin from each chef, there could only be one winner – DC’s own Chef Lewis.

“From a competitive perspective, I think everybody had fun. I think it was a huge educational piece for the vendor community to see how great the chefs in this region are, showcase the school and really get the student body involved,” said Chef Adam Cowan from Nestlé and Sysco Sliced judge.

“From a scholastic perspective it really opened the students’ eyes as to how much fun and how little stress competitive arenas can be. We’re here to have fun, to get better together and that is why we’re all in this business, to continuously learn and push the threshold and the rising of trends in the marketplace.”

Day 2 hosted a new batch of local chefs featuring different mystery boxes, with KB Restaurant’s Chef Kevin Brown coming out on top. Both Durham Region winners will now face off against two winners from the Peterborough area in the final battle in mid-August, to find out who will reign as champion and who will get sliced.  

More than 3,500 Durham College students, along with their family and friends and college faculty and staff, celebrated their post-secondary success at the college’s annual spring convocation ceremonies on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ont.

On June 19, graduates from the schools of Media, Art & Design; Science & Engineering Technology; Centre for Food; Health & Community Services; and Skilled Trades, Apprenticeship & Renewable Technology; received their diplomas and certificates. On June 20, ceremonies were held for the schools of Continuing Education; Justice & Emergency Services; Business, IT & Management; and Interdisciplinary Studies & Employment Services.

“This is the most important day of the year at Durham College as we celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of our graduates,” Don Lovisa, president of the college said. “There are three kinds of people in the world: those that watch things happen, those that make things happen and those that say ‘What happened?’ We are happy to produce graduates that make things happen.”

Graduates and guests were entertained by words of wisdom from two of the college’s most successful graduates, Russ Montague (Advertising, 2004) and Ian Ball (Business Administration – Marketing, 2002). Montague, a very successful entrepreneur with two unique companies – ShirtPunch (awarded Best New E-Business and Consumer’s Choice by the 2012 Canada Post E-Commerce Innovation Awards) and Nerd Block – spoke at Thursday’s ceremonies and also received a 2014 Alumni of Distinction Award.

Ball, one of the youngest vice-presidents on Bay Street at the age of 23, addressed graduates at Friday’s ceremonies. In September 2013 he was named president of McEwen Mining, a gold and silver producer after spending nine years with the company. During his time at McEwen he helped build it from a $5 million market capitalization to $750 million and establish it as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Overall, the annual spring convocation ceremonies were a success and the promise of new beginnings for DC grads. The sun was shining, graduates and guests were smiling and faculty and staff were happy to prove the college’s mission statement; the student experience comes first.

For the eighth consecutive year, Durham College (DC) celebrated the academic achievements of secondary school students from the Centre for Success program on June 16.  The program, hosted on campus through the School College Work Initiative, helped 160 students who were experiencing difficulties in graduating from secondary school to complete their diploma by engaging them in a college environment as well as demonstrating that they can be successful in post-secondary education. 

Gail MacKenzie, manager of Strategic Initiatives at DC, attributes the continued success of the program to its ability to be an alternative route for secondary school students.

“These are secondary school students who were not successful in their previously attended high schools for many reasons – financial, academic, attendance or mental health issues,” said MacKenzie. “When students come to Durham College, they feel they have a fresh start and are treated as adults in an adult learning environment. They live up to these expectations and achieve the kind of success they never thought possible.”

Most of the students are also successful in completing a college credit or dual credit encouraging them to complete their secondary school diploma requirements, while boosting their confidence about applying to and going to college.

The project, which boosts an average of a 92 per cent success rate, has grown significantly over the years from the first pilot project in 2006 with 14 students to the current program that will see over 300 students enrolled between September and June 2015 at both the Oshawa and Whitby campuses.

In addition to the DC administration and staff, students were joined by their families, teachers and representatives from the partnering school boards: Durham District School Board, Durham Catholic School Board, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board and Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board.

Thanks to the efforts of sponsors, donors, participants and volunteers, this year’s Roger Anderson Charity Classic golf tournament was another huge success, raising $320,000 and officially surpassing the $5-million mark over its 17-year lifetime. Hosted by Durham Region chairman and chief executive officer Roger Anderson at Deer Creek Golf and Banquet Facility in Ajax, Ont. on June 12, the annual event welcomed more than 225 golfers as they teed off for a chance to improve the lives of individuals living in Durham Region.

Throughout its 17 years, the tournament has created and maintained a legacy of giving to community organizations including providing assistance to students in financial need at Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and child and youth initiatives at the Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health.

Representatives from each of the three recipient organizations were on hand for a cheque presentation and the chance to extend their gratitude for the ongoing and enthusiastic support of everyone involved in the tournament.  

Tournament organizers would also like to recognize all of the sponsors for their ongoing and generous support.  Special thanks to major sponsors AECOM, Brookvalley Developments Inc., Covanta, Dorsay Development Corporation, Fieldgate/Paradise Homes/TACC, Lenovo, Metroland Media, Miller Group, Minto, Ontario Power Generation, Ricoh Canada Inc., Runnymede Development, Scotiabank and Tribute Communities. Organizers would also like to recognize the support of tournament sponsors Baker & McKenzie, Fraser Ford and Smart Centres, as well as event sponsors Deloitte, HDR Inc., Mattamy Homes, Metropia, Nordeagle Developments and Sorbara Development Group. 

Less than a year after opening Durham College’s (DC) Centre for Food (CFF) Sarah Lavergne, a first-year student in the CFF’s Culinary Skills program, has won gold in the Cooking category at the 20th annual Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC).

Marking the first year of competition for a student from the new CFF, Lavergne claimed the national title one month after winning gold in Culinary Arts category at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC). The CFF, Durham Region’s first-ever post-secondary presence focused on the field-to-fork concept, is based on the harvesting, storage, processing, packaging, sale and consumption of food – in particular the production of local food for local consumers.

SCNC is an Olympic-style multi-trade and technology competition that annually welcomes more than 500 competitors from across the country to compete in more than 40 trade and technology categories.  This year’s golden result gives the college its sixth national medal in as many years.

“We are very proud of Sarah’s accomplishments, which are a direct reflection of her hard work and commitment to her studies and her skills,” said Don Lovisa, president. “Her success re-affirms that the programs taught at DC prepare students for tremendous success against their peers on the national stage and in their professional careers. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Sarah on her performance and our faculty who have helped her prepare.”

“I’m so thrilled and excited to have won gold at Skills Canada,” said Lavergne. “It’s something that I never thought possible when I first started the program. I couldn’t have done it without all the coaching, time and advice I received from my instructors, in addition to the support from everyone else at Durham College and my family and my friends.”

The Culinary Skills program is a two-year program focused on providing skills in culinary planning, preparation and presentation for a variety of food-service environments. Students from these and a number of other programs benefit from working and learning in Bistro ’67, a full-service, green-certified teaching and learning restaurant located at the CFF.

“In my first year I’ve learned so much about the culinary world and cooking, and this competition definitely showed me the value of commitment, determination and hard work,” she added. “What an awesome way to wrap up the school year!”

Skills Canada is a not-for-profit organization that actively promotes careers in skilled trades and technologies to Canadian youth. The organization offers experiential learning opportunities including skilled trades and technology competitions for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians through regional, provincial/territorial, national and international events, as well as skilled trade awareness programs.