Durham College (DC) student Shane Friedman was one of 13 students to participate in what he calls a “life-changing” trip abroad to Guatemala and now he’s sharing the benefits of the trip with education and government leaders in Ottawa in October.

In February 2023, a group of students from the Faculty of Media, Art and Design (MAD) travelled to the small Indigenous community of Las Arrugas, Guatemala through a Faculty-Led Classroom Abroad (FLCA) trip.

While there, DC students worked with Indigenous youth in the community.

“Our goal was basically to teach the students there about media production – whether it be photo or video – and then how to take those skills and reach out to their local media outlets or leverage social media so that they could produce their own content and tell their stories and try to empower themselves and advocate for their own rights,” said Friedman, who is now a second-year video production student.

DC students also produced content from the trip including a short film from Friedman where he interviewed a leader in Las Arrugas. He shared his film in April when the DC students reunited with their friends from Guatemala virtually in The Rotary Global Classroom at Durham College.

He explains that the DC students not only picked up real-world media production experience, but they could demonstrate that they were doing good in the community they visited.

“We could come back and say, look, the people in this community greatly benefited from us being there and here are the photos and video to actually provide proof of that.”

In Ottawa between October 2 and 4, Friedman will be attending events organized by Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) and Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). Domestic students who participate in FLCA trips are funded by GSO with no cost to the students and Friedman said he plans to talk about what a “tremendous experience” the trip was for him and his peers at DC and how it benefited the community in Guatemala.

DC faculty member and Film and Motion Design: Media Fundamentals program coordinator Jennifer Bedford led the FLCA trip and gave Friedman kudos for his team spirit and impact on his peers.

“Shane’s enthusiasm was contagious, inspiring his fellow team members and the local community alike. His positive attitude and tireless work ethic were instrumental in keeping things on track and motivating the team, even in challenging circumstances,” she said. “His ability to maintain a sense of excitement and purpose greatly contributed to the project’s overall success in Guatemala.”

Bedford said the international learning opportunity for MAD students is a catalyst for engaging with Indigenous and all communities worldwide.

“The Home and Away: Storytelling FLCA gives DC students an opportunity to collaborate with local Mayan youth to craft and share media stories highlighting Indigenous rights, not only in Canada but also on a global scale,” she said. “This cross-cultural journey will equip them with the essential skills needed to be both global citizens and professionals.”

Learn more about Faculty-Led Classrooms Abroad at Durham College.

Durham College (DC) recognizes the 10^th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day and the third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation through remembrance, reflection and action around the history and impact of residential schools on First Nations, Inuit and Métis families and communities.

“As an organization, DC is committed to reconciliation, with the goal of building respectful, reciprocal relationships that contribute to better educational outcomes for all students,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “And, as an education institution, we are committed to providing space for meaningful conversations and reflection on the impacts of residential schools and their legacy as well as sharing resources for our DC community to learn more about the history of Indigenous Peoples, and ways to take meaningful steps towards reconciliation.”

Together with Ontario Tech University, Durham College is hosting Recognizing Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, in The Rotary Global Classroom on September 29. Employees and students were invited to participate and hear from speakers Kevin Lamoureux, award-winning scholar from the University of Winnipeg; Elder Dorothy Taylor, a Mississauga Ojibwe Elder from Curve Lake First Nation; and Elder Dr. Shirley Williams, who is Midewiwin and a member of the Bird Clan from the Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island.

In recognition of this important day, today, the Every Child Matters flag has been raised to honour children who attended residential schools. Tomorrow, the flags at the Whitby and Oshawa campuses will be lowered to half-mast and, at sundown, the DC sign and Connect sculpture at the bus loop at the Oshawa campus, and the atrium at the Whitby campus main building, will be illuminated orange.

With the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approaching on September 30, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) reporter Priscilla Wolf joined Durham College (DC) students for a discussion about Indigenous issues. 

Appearing virtually in The Rotary Global Classroom on September 26, Wolf fielded questions from the assembled students and shared stories from her life and career as an Indigenous woman who is committed to representing her community.

“I love working at APTN because we get to tell our stories from our point of view. Indigenous stories,” she said. With the benefit of her lived experience and knowledge of her culture, she tells those stories with empathy and integrity. While stressing that journalists of all backgrounds can and should cover Indigenous issues, she acknowledged that being a member of the community makes her work that much more personal.

First recognized in 2021, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation brings those issues to the forefront, particularly the history of residential schools. While those harsh truths must be acknowledged, Wolf sees the growing recognition as a positive step towards reconciliation.

“I think it’s important, because it shows how we’ve changed and how we’ve improved. It’s not just about how badly Indigenous people were treated. It’s also showing how the relationship has evolved with the Canadian government, and how Indigenous people have thrived and are still thriving today.”

Journalism professor Joanne MacDonald was pleased to see her students make the most of a unique opportunity to hear from someone as experienced and accomplished as Wolf.

“Hearing from frontline journalists in Canada is a pretty amazing experience. Students asked great questions, they listened and I think they learned a lot,” she said. “Diversity makes for better journalism.”

The event was part of the Voices in Journalism series. Every year, first-year Journalism students work with Durham Region’s CityStudio to produce a handful of events where speakers from across Canada and beyond share their wisdom and experience in panels on equity, diversity and inclusion in journalism.

It’s an invaluable opportunity for future journalists like Ganga Rajesh, who helped to moderate the event, and Gage Patte, who took a leading role in it.

“It’s important to learn from someone who’s had so much experience in the field. We’re going into the news industry, so we have to consider all these different perspectives and these different experiences that people we’re going to be working with have been through,” said Patte.  

As an international student who is just beginning to learn about the complicated history of Indigenous people in Canada, Rajesh was grateful for the chance to benefit from Wolf’s firsthand experience.

That sentiment was shared by their classmate, Simran Deb.

“I think that as journalists, it’s really important to listen to Indigenous voices,” she said.

Durham College (DC) is helping small businesses and startups take the next steps to bring their products and services to market, as a result of a $300,000 grant from Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON), expanding DC’s capacity to foster innovation and entrepreneurial growth in Ontario.

This new funding will further expand the intellectual property advisory services from DC’s Office of Research Services, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (ORSIE). More than 50 business clients are expected to take advantage of the tailored resources and mentorship to help them navigate the complexities of intellectual property and commercialization. DC students participating in FastStart, the college’s on-campus Entrepreneurship Centre, will have expanded opportunities to learn about intellectual property so that they can protect and leverage this vital business asset.

“By enhancing our services and providing commercialization expertise at DC, we’ll be able to educate our clients and student entrepreneurs on developing an intellectual property strategy and increase their understanding of the commercialization process – steps that are crucial to the long-term success of their products and services,” said Debbie McKee Demczyk, dean, ORSIE. “With the support of IPON, our office will continue to serve as a hub for innovation, fostering economic growth and creating opportunities for our clients, students and faculty to succeed.”

Training in intellectual property literacy will also be available, eliminating barriers clients face when navigating the process by themselves, often affecting their impact and profitability. A limited number of high-potential clients will also have access to financial support to cover costs related to filing and regulatory fees and to procure legal services.

 Community members, business owners, start-ups and students can benefit from DC’s IP expertise during ORSIE’s first TechTalk event on Friday, October 27 at the Oshawa Campus.

DC is among seven post-secondary institutions to receive the funding. IPON’s $2-million pilot project is part of the Commercialization Mandate Policy Framework, an initiative aimed at helping post-secondary institutions advance their research and innovation efforts for the benefit of Ontario.

For more information or to access advisory services, contact Joshua Cohen, Commercialization Specialist at DC, or visit us online to learn more about ORSIE and the college’s applied research services and projects.

Durham College is partnering with the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT) to undertake a six-year pilot program to determine the value of offering free memberships to students in engineering and applied science programs.

The pilot project will follow a single cohort of students through their two- or three-year college program, as well as the three-year period following graduation. Durham College recognizes the value employers place on professionals with a certification and that OACETT members and graduates from engineering and applied science programs go on to earn their certification as a Certified Technician (C.Tech) or a Certified Engineering Technologist (C.E.T.).

“We recognize the value of having industry certifications and the advantage they give graduates in a competitive job market,” said Tony Doyle, executive dean of Science, Engineering and Information Technology, at Durham College. “That’s why we are proud to introduce students to the OACETT and its certifications early in their studies to offer them opportunities to gain additional skills, training and mentorship that will help kick start their careers. We are thankful to OACETT for selecting us to partner with them on this pilot project.”

The pilot program will also include offering OACETT’s Professional Practice Exam (PPE) – one of the requirements for certification – while the students are still studying at DC, giving participating students advanced standing in achieving their C.Tech or C.E.T.

“There are two schools of thought about student membership in associations,” said Cheryl Farrow, CEO of OACETT. “One theory is that when students have to pay even a nominal fee, they are more personally committed and are more likely to convert to full membership upon graduation.  Another theory is that if membership is free, there is the potential to sign up more students, and even if not all of them become engaged, there still may be more that convert to full membership than from the smaller number of paid student members.”

The pilot will be available to students in the following programs:

• Biomedical Engineering Technology
• Chemical Engineering Technology
• Civil Engineering Technician and Technology
• Electromechanical Engineering Technology
• Electronics Engineering Technician and Technology
• Environmental Technology
• Mechanical Engineering Technician, Technology, and Non-Destructive Evaluation

The Barrett Centre Indoor Farm has practical applications in urban and northern settings where it’s tough to grow fresh food.

Even on the coldest day of the year, fresh produce will be ripe for the picking and ready to be shared with the community from a new and innovative indoor farm located at Durham College’s (DC) Barrett Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture (Barrett Centre) in Ajax.

The Barrett Centre Indoor Farm is a hydroponic growing unit manufactured by Growcer in Canada. Think shelves and bunk beds for plants inside an 18-foot structure similar to a shipping container.

“The Barrett Centre Indoor Farm is a great new addition to our Ajax Urban Farm,” said Barrett Centre partnership manager Brenna Bizley. “This indoor farm will allow us to grow produce year-round, helping to address some of the barriers to fresh food and food security that exist in our community, especially in the winter months.”

The unit was delivered in August, and the team is now working on producing the first crop.

Similar hydroponic units have generally been used to grow leafy greens like lettuce as well as herbs. But in this case, two different crops can be grown at a time and part of the research aspect for the project involves experimenting with different types of fruits and vegetables.

A key feature for the indoor farm is that it is accessible for people who use mobility devices.

“At the Barrett Centre we’re trying to support traditionally marginalized and underserved populations,” said Bizley. “Someone who has mobility issues and is interested in the agriculture industry may think that’s not a viable career option because there’s uneven terrain but what we’re trying to demonstrate is that actually anyone can come and work in the agriculture industry using this unit as an example.”

The indoor farm is only the second AODA-compliant farm in Canada and Growcer worked directly with the Rick Hanson Foundation to design the Osiris Access unit.

For the Barrett Centre, the goal is to address food insecurity and demonstrate options that can serve urban communities without access to farm land.

“You could put something like this in a parking garage in an apartment building and you could grow food in there that could help feed the residents,” said Bizley.

It could also benefit northern communities with short growing seasons.

“We’re very excited to share this indoor farm and innovative growing practices with the community. We hope to inspire a new generation of urban farmers to explore innovative ways to grow food in urban settings.”

As part of work-integrated learning opportunities, DC students are involved in all aspects of the Barrett Centre. Students from the Horticulture – Food and Farming program and the Horticulture Technician program also visit the site on field trips to learn more about hydroponics and indoor growing.

Bizley adds that the Barrett Centre is community-focused and she’s working with high school and elementary school teachers to arrange for trips to the farm.

Food grown in the indoor farm will also benefit community groups like Community Care Durham and it may be used in food literacy and cooking classes.

“We’re really trying to get feedback from the community about what they need and what they want to see at the farm because at the end of the day, the farm is meant to serve the community that it’s in,” said Bizley.

Learn more about the Barrett Centre’s sustainable and innovative initiatives online.