Over 62 nominations were received. Thank you all for your meaningful and moving contributions. The Governance Committee has completed their voting process, and the nominees listed below received an email letting them know they won the awards.

One thing is clear: Our students are strong and resilient, hard-working and determined. Some of the nominations were difficult to read, as stories of hardship and perseverance were shared with us. If we could, we would have selected them all.

The recipients of the 2020 OSCA-ACOSO Anthony Di Lena Student Pathway Awards are:

Rosemary Cameros Arbizu : University Pathway
Anusha Nimalaranjan : College Pathway
Maggie Benusik : Apprenticeship Pathway
Jackie Mitsima : Workplace Pathway

More than ever, making positive changes in today's political climate requires all of the right ingredients. The Black Youth Fellowship (BYF) seeks to place highly motivated, passionate and hard-working young people on a fast track to success. BYF is a professional and leadership development program focusing on building the next generation of Black public servants.

The BYF is an eight-month program, with the inaugural cohort beginning January 2021. Four months of intensive training and mentoring are followed by a 12-week placement in the office of a Member of Council. BYF is building on the success of the Muslim Youth Fellowship, now in its fourth year.

Mediaplanet's Youth Wellness & Empowerment Campaign

Help equip the children, teens, and youths in your life with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive and stay on top of their health, education, and employment.

We recently took part in @mediaplanetCA's Youth Wellness & Empowerment campaign in order to educate on the importance role a guidance counsellor can play in your decisions post high school graduation. To read the full article, click here: What’s After High School? A Guidance Counsellor Can Help.

For the digital launch, you’ll find the digital campaign landing page here: Youth Wellness and Empowerment Campaign

Here, you'll find a number of resources for supporting and empowering youth.

We hope that you, your families and colleagues are safe and healthy.

Planning for the Cannexus National Career Development Conference, in January 2021, remains underway at this point with all necessary precautions and contingencies. At this point, CERIC invites individuals or organizations with an interest in presenting at Cannexus21 to submit a proposal.

The OUInfo 2021 website is now live!

The Comprehensive Canadian University Guide is a podcast run by four high school students in Toronto. They are partnering with universities across Canada to record roughly 40-minute episodes focusing on a variety of specific programs that each school has to offer. Some of the schools they have already partnered with include UofT, Western, McMaster, McGill, UBC, and Waterloo.

"Our mission is to capture and openly share information about Canada's universities for high school students from across the country. We speak with students, recruitment officers, academic advisors and alumni willing to share some of what they've learned through their post-secondary experiences."

Education in the Pandemic? A National Scan
Canada-wide Education & COVID Tracker

People for Education is keeping track of the differences in educational policy and approaches across the country during the pandemic.

The Canada-wide Education during COVID-19 Tracker will provide an opportunity to understand more about the successes, challenges and evolution of each region''s response.  If you know of updates for your province, please email info@peopleforeducation.ca.

Canada-wide Education & COVID Tracker (click here)

Here are some Canadian organizations accepting donations
Please consider donating to one or more of these groups if you have the financial means

Justice for Regis Fundraiser

Justice for Regis

 "On May 27  2020, my sister Regis Korchinski Paquet, tragically lost her life, she was so special and meant the world to us. She was kind, beautiful, and she will be missed beyond belief. We are asking the public to help with meeting are goal to get the proper justice we need."

Donate here

 

 

Black Lives Matter - Toronto

	BLM Toronto

OUR VISION:

To be a platform upon which black communities across Toronto can actively dismantle all forms of anti-black racism, liberate blackness, support black healing, affirm black existence, and create freedom to love and self- determine.

OUR MISSION:

To forge critical connections and to work in solidarity with black communities, black-centric networks, solidarity movements, and allies in order to to dismantle all forms of state-sanctioned oppression, violence, and brutality committed against African, Caribbean, and Black cis, queer, trans, and disabled populations in Toronto.

Donate here

 

Black Lives Matter Waterloo Region - Community Solidarity Fund

BLM Waterloo

The Black Community Solidarity Fund is a way that the local Waterloo Region community can provide support to meet some of the urgent needs being communicated by urban organizers in North America who have responded with direct action to the most recent incidents of anti-Black police brutality and violence. The Black Solidarity Community Fund is also a way for the local community to provide support to ongoing Black-led anti-racist community care projects and organizations in the Waterloo Region.  

Funds raised will support the following initiatives: 

Local Initiatives  

Funds raised will provide support to ongoing under-resourced Black-led student, and youth focused anti-racist initiatives in the Waterloo Region including:

Young City Growers 
Africa Camp 
Local Post-Secondary Black Student Associations
Local Secondary Black Student Associations 

Funds raised will provide support to the following Black-led community care initiatives in the Waterloo Region: 

Woke Women and Woke Men 
African Community Wellness Initiative - Afrocentric Counselling Services 
Bring on the Sunshine Waterloo Region 

International Initiatives (20%)

Funds raised will provide on the ground support to organizers and activists in the Minnesota and Louisville through the following initiatives: 

Minnesota Freedom Fund 
https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/

Louisville Community Bail Fund
https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/?fbclid=IwAR1Bg3RLgNNbQIW-NR-dr5KXPHik6K0dTy9XcwFyywkwu66PYn9HFh4RdX8

African Community Wellness Initiative will be providing oversight to the management and deployment of funds.  
https://africancommunitywellness.org/

Donate here

 

Black Health Alliance (Canada)

	Black Health Alliance Canada

OUR APPROACH
We take on the key issues that impact Black communities in Canada through:

• Systems Change
• Health Promotion
• Research and Public Policy
• Convening, Collaboration and Capacity Building
• Championing Health Equity
• Fundraising

Donate here

 

Black Legal Action Centre

Black Legal Action Centre

The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) is a new not-for-profit corporation set up under the laws of Ontario in 2017.

BLAC delivers legal aid services to low and no income Black Ontarians. We work to combat individual and systemic anti-Black racism by:

 

• providing legal representation, summary legal advice and brief services to individual clients
• engaging in test case litigation, law reform and community development to improve the laws that affect low income people
• giving public legal information sessions to members of the public and other community agencies.

We can help clients by:

• giving you legal advice
• helping you fill out forms
• representing you at some tribunals and courts
• referring you to other agencies when we can''t help

Donate here

 

Black Youth Helpline

	Black Youth Helpline

The Black Youth Helpline (BYH) is a not-for-profit, registered charitable organization governed by a Board of Directors. The organization serves ALL youth and specifically responds to the need for a Black youth specific service, resourced to promote access to culturally appropriate supports for youth, families, schools and other youth serving institutions.

The organization''s Stay-in-School program and support services is now Canada-wide and focuses on helping youth remain and succeed in schools and in community life.  

Intervening early to help address challenges faced by youth and helping vulnerable children remain and succeed in school, results in the best chance for youth to experience successful futures. This is the focus of the Black Youth Helpline.

Donate here

 

"God is my guide. I would not be doing this if it wasn't for His clear calling on me. Jesus is my saviour and my strength. Whether you are a believer or not all are welcome to join me on this journey. There is no moving forward if there is no desire to get along and accept all those who want to reach the same goal no matter their religion or beliefs." -Pheona Jimenez, Founder

The organization''s goal is to help Black people here in our city feel they have a voice, they are important and they are loved in their every day lives outside their homes. Bridging GAAPS hopes to bridge the gaps between the Black people of Cambridge and store owners, churches, law enforcement and our government leaders on all levels. There needs to be improvements in how Black people are treated in all of these places and all of the leaders in this place need to come up with new ways to make this happen.

Contact: bridginggaaps14@gmail.com

Register here!

 Register here!

Purposeful Acts of Kindness - Kindness Rocks

OSCA/ACOSO Guidance and Career Education Awards 

Awards are now open for nominations!
Deadline is now May 28, 2021

Curriculum and Resources

**The Elmer Huff Award for Guidance and Career Education Resources - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to the career development of young people through the creation, development and delivery of high quality Guidance and Career Education Resources.

Counsellor Professional Development

**The Russ Seltzer Award for Contribution to Counsellor Education in Ontario - presented to honour contribution to Counsellor Education in Ontario, including teaching Guidance and Career Education Additional Qualification courses.

**The Howard R. Beattie Award for Contribution to Counsellor Professional Development - presented to a counsellor who has created new and beneficial ideas and techniques for professional use and communicated these through such means as workshops, local leadership and the organization of a conference or guidance professional development activities.

Elementary Guidance

**The Marion Axford Award for Elementary Guidance - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to elementary guidance in Ontario.

Peer Helping

**The Daryl L. Cook Peer Helping Award - presented to one elementary and/or one secondary school in Ontario in recognition of its exemplary peer helping program.

Contribution to Guidance and Career Education

**The Career/LifeSkills Resources Award for Excellence in Career Education - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to career development. This award is presented by Career/Lifeskills Resources (www.career-lifeskills.com).

**The Certificate of Appreciation - presented in recognition of outstanding contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario by individuals/groups who are community partners.

**The Phil Hedges Award - presented to recognize the contributions to Guidance and Career Education by dedicated counsellors in the Province of Ontario. An award will be given to one qualifying nominee from each of the six educational regions in the province, or up to a maximum of six qualifying nominees from across the province. **Please refer to http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/offices.html to determine which region each school board is included in.

**The Morgan D. Parmenter Memorial Award - presented to recognizes a person who has made a most significant contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario.

Nomination Form