The global social justice movement for Black Lives has amplified the need for systems around the world to acknowledge the ways in which Anti-Black Racism in its many forms impacts the health and well-being of people of African descent/heritage; this includes the education system. Black students’ academic achievement is not only contingent on having access to quality education, but also feeling seen, heard and valued in their school environment. School counsellors play a pivotal role in supporting Black students’ sense of connectedness to their school community, and in setting students up for academic and professional success beyond their elementary and secondary school experiences. By attending the webinars, participants will engage in a series of scaffolded learning related to anti-Black racism in alignment with Dr. George Sefa Dei’s 10 Guiding Principles of Anti-Racism Education with an emphasis on disrupting marginalizing practices within guidance. This series will be of interest to any professionals working with Black youth in education or community settings.

 

This past fall, OSCA provided input into the current situations facing students as they apply to colleges and universities for the 2021-2022 school year. OSCA is aware of issues affecting university/college applications. Guidance Counsellors are urged to continue to advocate for equity for all students by discussing the issues with the post-secondary institutions.

These issues include, but are not limited to:

• Some high schools are scheduled by quadmester. therefore. it appears that 6 U/M courses or prerequisite courses are not projected during this school year.
• Quadmester 1 transmission data errors; time was not allowed for schools to correct before OUAC/OCAS had access.
• Gr. 11 marks from COVID Spring 2020 are used for admissions purposes, but do not show true capabilities for students adversely affected by COVID.
• Quadmester E-learning courses are very limited, and schools with fewer offerings are forced to enroll students in full semester E-learning. Students are therefore in 3 courses during one quadmester.
  • Midterm marks show incomplete work; students will complete when they have more time in the next quadmester and have made arrangements with teachers, but marks do not reflect true ability.

We’re hiring for the following positions. Please help us promote these opportunities by sharing with your network. Thank you!

Student Engagement Coordinator
Student Equity Coordinator
Student Mental Health Literacy Coordinator

Over the fall semester, join us online to hear from Ryerson community members delivering content across a range of topics. Tune in for mock-lecture, professional development opportunities and more!

Tuesday, December 8, 2 pm - 3 pm
Further details including registration can be found at the link below - we look forward to seeing you online!

Canadian Parents for French (Ontario) a le plaisir de vous annoncer le lancement d'un nouveau site Web bilingue nommé SayOui.ca.
Développé par CPF Ontario, SayOui.ca s’adresse aux étudiant.e.s du secondaire et du postsecondaire qui explorent leur futur cheminement de carrière. SayOui.ca inspire et informe les jeunes à devenir enseignant.e.s de français langue seconde (FLS).
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Canadian Parents for French (Ontario) is excited to announce the launch of a new bilingual website named SayOui.ca.

Developed by CPF Ontario, the goal of SayOui.ca is to motivate secondary and post-secondary students to explore becoming a French as a Second Language (FSL) teacher.

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) is a brief mental health screener that can be used by health professionals and researchers to reliably identify dysfunctional anxiety associated with COVID-19 and symptom severity. Higher CAS scores are associated with COVID-19 diagnosis, impairment, alcohol/drug coping, negative religious coping, extreme hopelessness, suicidal ideation as well as negative attitudes toward President Trump and Chinese products. Further research is needed to ensure that the CAS reflects the full psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as it was developed in the United States at the beginning of the pandemic.

VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE
In this very special year, the National Circus School invites you to its virtual open house on Saturday, November 28th!
You wish to further your studies at the School? You want to learn more about our programs? Take advantage of our virtual information sessions to ask all your questions directly to members of the School's team. Register now for one of our virtual information sessions. Hurry up, places are limited!


VIDEO GUIDED TOUR
To begin the event, our entire team would like to welcome you virtually this year by offering you a video guided tour of the School. This unique tour allows you to follow our graduating guides Anja Marina Habegger and Maxime Charron through the school. Join them to discover the practice and creation spaces of tomorrow's emerging circus artists!

Indigenous activities and learning on the land is a sure way to acknowledge and celebrate the
contributions of Indigenous peoples.

This list of activities was created in an effort to offer ways to keep Indigenous youth in touch with their
home territory, identity and cultural heritage. Keeping Indigenous youth grounded to their home
territory helps to keep family and close connections, familiar relationships and supports from home close
to heart. Traditional activities and learning on the land helps to keep youth focused on their work and
goals while at school. Keeping Indigenous youth grounded in who they are, helps to instill pride and
confidence, respect and responsibility to themselves, their families and community.

 

The OSCA Board of Directors needs you to ensure the ongoing work of the association. We will ask you, OSCA members, to vote on the following motion during our AGM on December 5, 2020 through a Google Form. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the motion, please forward to the Governance Committee care of Marie Moftah, zoologyalex@gmail.com, or Kim Enns-Hildebrand, ennshik@gmail.com, by Wednesday December 2, 2020.

MOTION:

To change the qualifications required for applying to the Board of Directors:

As a Director to be as follows: have achieved at least Part 1 - Guidance and Career Education, at least one year of experience in Guidance and Career Education plus currently be working in Guidance.

For a Board of Directors Executive position, the candidate must have Guidance Specialist qualifications plus currently be working in Guidance and Career Education.  

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

The OSCA/ACOSO Board of Directors Needs You! 

Are you a person who wants to be involved in the future of guidance in Ontario? Perhaps you are a person who likes volunteerism and teamwork. Please consider becoming a member of the OSCA/ACOSO Board of Directors for 2021-2022. Several of the board members have terms that expire this year which means that there are several positions available for new members. For more information please visit our website. You will also need to attend the AGM on Saturday, December 5 at 10 am.

Transitioning to Remote Health and Wellness Services in Post-Secondary Settings: A Case Study Approach developed by Canadian Best Practices in Higher Education provides a guide to support post-secondary Health & Wellness and Counselling Centres in their transition to providing remote health and wellbeing services to students. This guide is intended for health and mental health clinicians, healthcare administrators, and other stakeholders considering transitioning their services from more traditional models of in-person care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This week’s guest is Georges Awaad, an inspiring undergraduate student of linguistics at McGill University. He is just 21 years old and can speak 19 different languages. Georges currently teaches Chinese language to primary school students at École Montessori de Laval and as his LinkedIn profile will tell you, he "seek[s] to use [his] language and communication skills to inspire people from all over the world to look past language and cultural barriers and to see the authentic nature in everyone."

An accessible, content-rich and value-packed opportunity for Canada’s career development communities to convene, share and learn. Over 150 sessions on Supporting clients through the pandemic, Effective counselling & facilitation techniques, Career assessments, Labour market information, Working with diverse populations, Mental health & resilience, Youth employment, Talent management & leadership development, Online tools & technologies, Workforce & community economic development.
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Une occasion accessible, riche en contenu et en valeur aux communautés spécialisées en développement de carrière du Canada pour qu’elles puissent se réunir, échanger et apprendre. Plus de 150 séances de formation : Soutien des clients pendant la pandémie, Counseling efficace et techniques d’animation, Information sur le marché du travail, Évaluation relative à la carrière, Travail avec des populations et clientèles variées, Santé mentale et résilience, Emploi des jeunes, Gestion du talent et développement du leadership, Outils et technologies numériques, Main-d’œuvre et développement économique communautaire.

We are pleased to invite you to a free virtual Guidance Dialogues event on Tuesday, December 8, 2020, from 10 am to noon.

The format will be similar to the in-person Guidance Dialogues we have held in the past. Representatives from each Ontario university will provide live admission updates. University updates will be given one at a time and each update will be approximately 3 minutes.
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Nous sommes heureux d’offrir une séance virtuelle gratuite des Dialogues pour conseillères et conseillers, le mardi 8 décembre 2020, de 10 h à 12 h.

Le format sera semblable aux séances en personne des Dialogues pour conseillères et conseillers que nous avons organisées dans le passé. Des représentantes et représentants de chaque université de l’Ontario fourniront des mises à jour en temps réel, lesquelles seront diffusées une à la fois, chacune devant durer environ 3 minutes.

The Ontario School Counsellors' Association has a long-standing tradition (over 40 years) of recognizing and awarding those who stand out in the field of Guidance and Career Education. OSCA recognizes individuals and/or organizations that have made a significant contribution to Guidance and Career Education in Ontario. We can say with confidence that our past award winners have helped thousands find their pathways to successful futures! OSCA's awards are an excellent way of recognizing your most dedicated peers.

Fall Session: Tuesday, October 13, 2020 -to- Tuesday, December 15, 2020 
Register for the Fall Session here!

Winter Session: Monday, January 11, 2021 -to- Monday, March 8, 2021  
Register for the Winter Session here!

Cost: $650

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