W e want Skills Ontario Fall 2014 Update Launch of new website and new logo Good news! We’ve given our website and logo a little freshening up. Visit www.skillsontario.com to find an updated look and feel plus all the information you need to book a presentation, find out more about our programs and explore our competitions. We’ve even added a Twitter widget and mailing list sign up so you can always keep up to date with us! We have a snazzy new logo. Tweet us or find us on Facebook to let us know what you think of the updates.
Cheryl Jensen named Algonquin College President Please join Skills Ontario in congratulating Cheryl Jensen, Chair of the Skills Ontario Board of Directors, on her new position: President of Algonquin College as of Monday, August 25, 2014. Find the official announcement here. Cheryl has been an important part of our board for many years, and we wish her the best of luck in her new role.
Summer Camp Update
Another successful summer has come to an end for our campers and staff facilitators! With a total of 22 camps occurring across Ontario in 2014, campers entering grade seven and eight had a chance to participate in various hands-on workshops such as carpentry, welding, brick masonry, HVAC and many more. The campers also toured various local facilities, aircraft centres and training centres. This summer, we had three Aboriginal focused camps and one French focused camp, as part of our commitment to exploring skills and trades with youth across Ontario. We would like to thank all of our volunteers and sponsors for making this summer so positive! We appreciate all of the time and effort they put into our Skills Work!® Camp and we could not thank them enough. Please feel free to visit our Facebook page which will include pictures and articles from the various Skills Work!® Camps. Registration for next year’s summer camps begins in January 2015. Register at: www.skillsontario.com/camp.
Tech Chairs Needed
#boréal20ans: Collège Boréal, 20 years in the heart of the community
YOU !
If you are passionate about the skilled trades and technologies and want students across Ontario to share in your excitement - we want you to be a part of the Ontario Technological Skills Competition. With 67 different challenges featured at this event, there are lots of opportunities to inspire youth to pursue careers in skilled trades and technologies. We need: Technical Committee Chairs for: Technical Committee Members and • Cabinetmaking Judges for many of the 67 contests • Photography hosted at the OTSC. National Committee Members for: • Job Skill Demonstration • Photography • Cabinetmaking • Steamfitting To learn more about these and other volunteer opportunities please visit www.skillsontario.com/volunteer-positions or contact: Barry Harrison, Director of Competitions at bharrison@skillsontario.com
Facility Marshalls needed for the 2015 OTSC Facility Marshalls play a key role in ensuring the success of the OTSC by organizing and facilitating set up and tear down of the OTSC as well as being a resource to Volunteer Technical Committee Chairs during the event. Volunteers are needed between April 30 – May 7. You must be organized, dedicated and passionate about promoting skilled trade and technology careers to youth and be willing to work hard for long hours for no pay…nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch, nil, zippola. If this sounds like the right volunteer position for you, we want to hear from you. Visit www.skillsontario.com/volunteer-positions to see the full job description or contact Barry Harrison, Director of Competitions at bharrison@skillsontario.com for more info.
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stablished in 1995, Collège Boréal is a French language post-secondary training and educational institution committed to the development and enhancement of communities across Ontario. Having roots in 25 communities throughout the province, its seven campuses and various access centres serve a broad range of clients. Indeed, Collège Boréal is a real
educational, cultural, innovative, and community geared institutions that serves a diverse Francophone population, including Franco-Ontarians, immersion students, immigrants, French-speaking First Nations and Métis peoples, and international students. Its goal is to produce an exceptionally qualified bilingual labour force that is involved in French-speaking communities and that contributes to the
province’s and country’s economic, social and cultural vitality. Moreover, over the past years, Boréal established close to 20 recognized trades programs in Ontario. It is for this reason that Collège Boréal considers its partnership with Skills Ontario essential for jointly contributing to raise awareness of the province’s young Francophones regarding the various career options the trades offer.
For the second year in a row, Collège Boréal obtained the best graduating rate and the highest graduate satisfaction rate among Ontario’s 24 colleges of applied arts and technology. In fact, 100 percent of surveyed employers would recommend hiring Collège Boréal graduates! For more information on Collège Boréal, visit our website at www. collegeboreal.ca.
Competitor Feature: Maxime Marineau cation at Cambrian College in their Electrical Techniques Program.
be involved in. When I started high school, I started learning to drive the robots. I grew up flying RC We caught up with controlled airplanes, Maxime to chat which made driving how he got involved the robot a natuwith Skills Ontarral transition for io and his hopes me. Some people axime Marineau, for the future. get stressed when from École secthey have to drive ondaire catholique de Skills Ontario: How the robot because Hearst, earned a gold did growing up in a your whole team medal in the Robotics francophone comdepends on you contest at the 2014 munity lead you at competitions. OTSC as well as a into Robotics? gold medal at the SO: What do you 2014 Skills Canada Maxime Marineau: hope for in Brazil and National Competition Hearst is a small what’s after that? (SCNC) and has town in Northern earned a spot on Ontario so the Skills MM: I hope to win! Team Canada trials Ontario competitions But if I don’t, I hope to represent Canada are big events in our to do my best, have a at the WorldSkills town. I first heard of it good time and learn Competition in Brazil when I was in grade new things. The jourin 2015. Maxime is 8 and knew it was ney already has been furthering his edusomething I’d like to incredible. I’m excited
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to go to Brazil; my grandmother even bought me a phrasebook when she heard the news. Afterwards, I hope to finish my studies and work as an electrician. As a francophone it’s sometimes hard to find jobs if you don’t speak English but I’m glad that I do and I hope to find something close to home. I love the outdoors and don’t want to be far away from it! SO: Thanks Maxime, we wish you all the best in the trials and your career. We can’t wait to see what you will do!