The Police Foundations program at Durham College (DC) has taken on a new initiative allowing students to learn from working directly with Oshawa community schools. Maria Iannuzziello, former police officer and current co-ordinator of the program, initiated the Village Union Project.

Named after Village Union Public School in Oshawa, Ont. the project has been designed for Police Foundations students to work directly in Oshawa elementary schools allowing them to gain experience working with youth.

“We put 100 students in Village Union Public School last semester,” said Iannuzziello. “That provided the teachers and students with so much help and assistance, they loved us there.”

Val Brooks, Village Union Public School principal, credits the success of the project to the Police Foundations students involved and the commitment they have shown to their younger counterparts.

“Durham College Police Foundations students are very responsible and genuinely care about our students,” said Brooks. “They participate in school activities, are eager to help out whenever they are needed and are good role models”

After its launch last spring, the program has been successful in assisting DC students in gaining valuable experience as well as providing assistance to a local elementary school. The program has expanded this semester to include Glen Street Public School and Mary Street Community School, both in Oshawa, while several students have also chosen to stay on as assistants with the schools even after earning their required credit.

“Working with youth is one of the highlighted interests of most police services today,” said Iannuzziello. “Giving our students this experience will put them in the running for jobs while we are also able to make a difference in the lives of children in our community.”

Dalton Burger, a professor in Durham College’s (DC) Paralegal program recently took part in the annual York Region Secondary School Mock Trial Competition held at the Newmarket Courthouse in Newmarket, Ontario. The competition welcomed students from 24 area high schools who have received mentoring from local lawyers and paralegals to conduct mock trials before various judges of the Ontario Court of Justice.

The event was created to help students develop their interest in the legal field while exposing them to a fully integrated, hands-on experience. The trials began on February 24 and will continue for a week with the finals being held on Monday, March 3. The winners of the York Region event receive the celebrated Mock Trial Competition Cup and bragging rights for the next year.

Burger was on hand to assist students with the competition as well as provide information about post-secondary opportunities and pathways.

“Each year I am proud to see what these students accomplish in their mock trials,” said Burger. “The Paralegal program at DC is a perfect match for many of these students who showcase a passion for law and are interested in directly representing clients before various courts and tribunals.”

DC’s Paralegal program is accredited by The Law Society of Upper Canada (Law Society), the regulatory body governing professional paralegals in the province.  The program prepares students for the Law Society’s paralegal licensing examination, enabling them to provide legal services within authorized areas of law practice and represent clients before Small Claims Court, Criminal Court (summary convictions), Provincial Offences Court and government tribunals.

Durham College (DC) Journalism – Web and Print students are undertaking a new endeavour to provide another learning outlet to their already full program. The venture is a new online magazine called The Water Buffalo with 100 per cent of its content provided by Journalism students.

“Until now, students have had The Chronicle, a weekly paper that caters to news production,” said Teresa Goff, an instructor in the Journalism program. “The Water Buffalo is an opportunity for students to use new digital tools to tell stories and engage readers.”

The large animal was chosen as the magazine’s title because the media industry is a changing beast. In order to adapt, both content and delivery of that content must evolve to match reader expectations, much in the same way the water buffalo has adapted to survive for generations. In honour of this distinctive fact, the magazine will cover a variety of topics from entertainment to social issues while maintaining its goal of providing an alternative news option for those living in Oshawa and within the Durham Region.

“We hope to reflect both the changes here at the college and in the Durham Region as well as the changes in the way that people access their information,” said Goff. “The stories that appear in the magazine will be told on many media platforms incorporating interactive polls, social media and interactive content.”

The online magazine’s first issue will launch on Thursday, February 20 with a diverse array of stories including features on the amazing journey of the Durham College women’s volleyball team manager; the beginnings of a competitive intercollegiate gaming league; and a chronological breakdown of the continuing evolution of the music industry coupled with an audio interview.

Two Durham College (DC) students recently took advantage of the record cold temperatures when they won the Winterloo Student Ice Carving Competition in Waterloo, Ont. on February 15. Marisa Latin, a second-year Culinary Management student, and Michael Stowell-Smith, a first-year student in the Hospitality Management – Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism program, teamed up to represent DC at the first annual event.

“We were invited to be one of three colleges (along with Conestoga and Fleming College) to participate in this event,” said Dave Hawey, professor and program co-ordinator of DC’s culinary programs. “Participating in events like this gives our students the opportunity to network as well as represent DC in an extra-curricular activity.”

The competition required students to create an ice carving from a 300-pound block of ice with basic carving tools. The carving was to be based on the competitions theme of Hearts and Dogs and was to be completed within a four-hour time limit. Carvings were then judged based on their relevance to the contest’s theme, overall impression and defined finish.

Faculty members from DC’s culinary and hospitality programs were also on hand to act as mentors for the students in the competition, assisting with larger cuts necessary in creating the sculpture. Stowell-Smith and Latin completed a beautiful swan carving that impressed the judges and pushed their effort ahead of their competitors, winning the inaugural event.

Hawey went on to mention the value for students participating in events such as Winterloo.

“Students gain the opportunity to learn a new skill which is great for their personal and professional portfolios and the support from the rest of the students and faculty showcased the tremendous pride found at DC and the Centre for Food,” said Hawey. 

Durham College and partnering school boards honoured 150 secondary school students who successfully completed the Centre for Success program on January 16 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre (CRWC). The program, hosted on Durham College’s Oshawa and Whitby campuses through the School College Work Initiative, offers secondary school students another route to graduate by engaging them in a college environment.  In addition, most of the students earn a college credit alongside their secondary school diploma requirements.

“I’ve always been told I have great potential but I never realized how much until I joined the Centre for Success,” said Jade Evans, one of the students selected to speak about their educational experiences at the ceremony. “The teachers are great and the environment is unrestricted which is exactly what high school should be.”

From its humble beginnings in 2006 with 14 students the Centre for Success has continually grown to offer more students the opportunity to succeed. This year was no exception as the program introduced the first provincial pilot project dual credit class. Nine students from the Learning and Life Skills program at Clarington Central Secondary School took part in the Community Integration through Co-operative Education (CICE) dual credit program. These students were provided with the opportunity to experience college life and enhanced academic learning by enrolling in the program modified to fit their academic abilities.

“The pilot program was such a great success because these students would not normally have the opportunity to think about college,” said Gail MacKenzie, manager of strategic initiatives. “With them being immersed in a college credit they know they have an opportunity to come to college in the future which allows them to acknowledge and prepare for it.”

Plans are in place to continue the provincial pilot project alongside the Centre for Success in fall 2014 with additional school boards beginning to show interest in joining.

Durham College’s Communicative Disorders Assistant (CDA) (graduate certificate) program recently received a generous donation when the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen presented the college with a cheque for $2,500 on behalf of Harmonize for Speech, a fundraising project of the Ontario District Association of Chapters of Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Singing of America, commonly known the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The project provides funds for numerous speech-related projects and equipment at organizations across the province.

In addition, a portion of the funds donated were also raised by the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen, a BHS member that has been supporting the college for eight years.

“Thank-you so much to the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen and Harmonize for Speech for this wonderful support of our CDA program,” said Elizabeth Maga, CDA program co-ordinator. “We could not provide as high a quality of learning as we do without this very generous donation.”

The CDA program uses the funds to purchase new textbooks, assessment tools and resources that will be used to prepare students for working with clients who have speech impairments both in their field placements and in the workforce. The funds also allow the program to bring in guest speakers such as Debra Goshulak, a world-renowned speaker from the Speech and Stuttering Institute, who came to campus in November to speak to students as part of the Articulation and Phonology course.

The CDA program is a one-year graduate certificate program that prepares students to work with speech-language pathologists and audiologists to help implement effective treatment plans to help people of all ages communicate more effectively. It welcomes approximately 32 students each year.

“We are very grateful for the support of the Oshawa Horseless Carriagemen and Harmonize for Speech,” added Maga. “All these resources are of such great benefit to our current and future CDA students and to the community in general. What the students learn from using these resources now will help so many individuals with communicative disorders in the future.”

Students from Durham College’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business program are getting the opportunity to apply the lessons they’ve learned in the classroom to projects for external clients as they prepare themselves to be job ready after graduation.

The students worked on two projects for two separate clients during their first semester, broadening their experience and comfort level in diverse industry settings.

“These experiences are valuable for our entrepreneurship students since they provide an opportunity to actually manage the operations of a project,” said Jay Fisher, professor. “In order to provide an authentic, hands-on experience, we need to work on real projects for real clients. These experiences are highly transferable when students begin managing their own internal operations when they start new businesses.”

The first student-organized event was the Find it in Durham Scavenger Hunt, a contest that provided participants with a fun way to learn about the resources available to entrepreneurs in Durham Region. The scavenger hunt was the key event of Do it in Durham – a series of challenges that included workshops and networking events with the opportunity to win prizes worth up to $7,000.

Another project required the students to collaborate and promote the first-ever Innovation Celebration for the Rouge Valley Health System. The awards celebration honoured winning ideas submitted by employees on improving efficiency and eliminating wasteful processes in the hospital system.

Chris Roberts, an Entrepreneurship and Small Business student, found the experience of working for a client provided valuable exposure and insight to event planning and managing a project.

“It’s important because you get hands-on experience when communicating with a client, planning an event and managing a team,” said Roberts. “From this you develop skills like asking the right questions to gather information; how to write and speak to team members and clients; and how to keep team members up-to-date and the information centralized.” 

For individuals looking to make their mark in the world of sports, Durham College was the place to be on November 20 at the fourth annual Sport Business Conference. Organized by students in the college’s Sport Business Management program, the event brought together successful sport business professionals for a day of networking, discussion panels and keynote speeches.

More than 250 guests, including more than 80 high school students from the Durham Region and GTA, met and heard from experts in the fields of professional and amateur sports, broadcasting, sport associations, sporting goods companies and more.

“Our conference and conferences like ours are important because they provide students with the insight to aspects that are integral to success in the sporting industry,” said Evan Schwantz, Sport Business Management student. “They will learn either personal stories or certain aspects of these distinguished individuals’ profession that are required to succeed. “

The conference also featured a number of high-profile guest speakers including Jerry Howarth, radio play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays; Bruce Newton, director of Business Development, Hockey Canada; and Sid Seixeiro, television and radio sports personality with Sportsnet and the Fan 590.

Seixeiro, who has been working in sports broadcasting since 1997, shared stories of embarrassing interview moments, his favourite athletes to watch and gave the students in attendance some valuable advice.

“Figure out as soon as you can what you want to do and follow that path,” said Seixeiro. “If you can’t build that foundation as you go, which is what you have to do, things might pass you by. The resources are there to help you get into a lot of doors.”

Originally introduced in 2010, the execution of the annual event has become part of the students’ academic requirements for the graduate certificate program. All proceeds from ticket sales were donated to the Right to Play, a charity that uses sport and play to educate and empower youth.

It was game on for a team of 49 students in the Game Development program as they participated in Extra Life – a 25-hour gaming marathon – held on November 9 and 10. Led by Professor John Goodwin, the team raised $6,200 for the Children’s Miracle Network.

Held in Durham College’s state-of-the-art Game Development labs, the students, Goodwin and another professor spent more than a full calendar day playing console, PC, tablet and phone games, as well as traditional board games and cards.

“Despite the long hours, I am amazed by the energy, support and spirit of generosity from students from all years of the program,” said Goodwin. “Together, with their family and friends, our students generously donated time, money and sleep, supporting each other and our cause in what I can only describe as an inspiring show of dedication and camaraderie.”

Launched in 2008, Extra Life invites gamers from across the world to play any game on any platform at the location of their choice and raise money through pledges or through a one-time gift.

All funds raised go to the Children’s Miracle Network and toward purchasing toys, books, movies and video games for local hospitals. The hospital beneficiary of their fundraising is The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Ont.

“We had such a great time that, despite the sheer exhaustion that set in on Sunday morning, the students were already talking about doing this again next year,” added Goodwin. “I can’t wait!”