OSCA/ACOSO is going virtual for 2021! We are excited to offer a professional development
and networking event this Spring: Hope & Rejuvenation: Taking Care of Each Other.
When: Wednesday May 12, 2021
Title: Hope & Rejuvenation: Taking Care of Each Other
Theme: Wellness for Guidance Counsellors
Scope: Half-day, "mini" conference offering a keynote speaker, workshop options, healthy
breaks, and networking opportunities.
Registration coming soon!!
_________________________________________________________________________________

L’OSCA/ACOSO devient virtuelle en 2021! Nous sommes ravis d'offrir un événement de
développement professionnel et de réseautage ce printemps: Espoir et rajeunissement:
prendre soin les uns des autres.
Quand: le mercredi 12 mai 2021
Titre: Espoir et rajeunissement: prendre soin les uns des autres
Thème: Bien-être pour les conseillers en orientation
Portée: demi-journée, «mini» conférence offrant un conférencier principal, des options
d'ateliers, des pauses santé et des opportunités de réseautage.
Inscription à venir!!

OSCA/ACOSO is going virtual for 2021 and we are looking forward to connecting, learning, and sharing with you in new ways this year! With valued feedback from our members, we are excited to host a virtual conference for 2021. Join us as we move forward: FORWARD21: Moving from Chaos to Opportunity. 

Stay connected with us for conference registration and more details.

http://www.osca.ca/

This year OSCA/ACOSO 2021 celebrates 57 years of leading the way in Guidance and Career
Education in Ontario. It has been an unprecedented year riddled with never-before-seen challenges and relentless change. The context of the pandemic has brought about needs and disruptions in Guidance and Career Education work; needs and challenges that are uncharted. In many ways, we are planning for the unplanned and tasked with forging new paths forward.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Cette année, OSCA / ACOSO 2021 célèbre ses 57 ans à l'avant-garde de l'orientation et de la
formation professionnelle en Ontario. Ce fut une année sans précédent pleine de défis inédits et
de changements incessants. Le contexte de la pandémie a entraîné des besoins et des perturbations dans le travail de l'orientation et du cheminement de carrière ainsi que des besoins et des défis inexplorés. À bien des égards, nous prévoyons les imprévus et sommes chargés de tracer de nouvelles voies.

2021 OSCA/ACOSO Guidance and Career Education Awards

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.

Awards Overview

Click here for the Nomination Form!

 

OSCA-ACOSO Anthony Di Lena Student Pathway Awards' mandate is to assist at-risk students in their journey towards success. One of the most important ways this is accomplished is by providing the OSCA-ACOSO Anthony Di Lena Student Pathways Awards to at-risk students who have demonstrated the exemplary ability to succeed in the face of adversity. $500.00 awards are presented to students who, in their postsecondary pursuits, are taking a pathway to apprenticeship, college, university or workplace.

 

One of the most important mandates is to provide scholarships to exemplary at-risk students for post-secondary education or vocational training.

Nomination Deadline is May 28, 2021
Click Here for the Nomination Form

Award Criteria

Nominated students must be graduating/or have graduated from an accredited public secondary, Catholic secondary, or inspected private secondary school, including First Nations, in the province of Ontario in the previous school year. 

Students must be nominated by a classroom teacher, a Student Success Teacher or a Guidance Counsellor who are not their parent. The nominator does not have to be a member of OSCA.

In order to be nominated, a student must fulfill one or more of the following criteria:

• The student succeeded in school despite having to overcome personal obstacles.
• The student succeeded in school despite having to cope with bullying and/or violence.
• The student succeeded in school despite being socio-economically disadvantaged.
• The student succeeded in school despite having to manage a mental health issue.
• The student succeeded in school despite having to overcome academic challenges

A complete nomination requires three parts:

1. Completion of the on-line nomination form found below;
2. A detailed description, written by the nominator, of how the nominated student fulfills one or more of the criteria mentioned above;
3. A short description, written by the nominated student, of how they have overcome these obstacles and achieved their success.

Four Pathways Awards will be awarded for $500 each.  The nominator should indicate which pathway the nominated student will pursue after completion of their high school education ? University, Apprenticeship, College, or Workplace. 

It is our hope that this award could be presented to the receiving student at their graduation ceremony.  The nominator should provide the date of this ceremony.

• Students may not be nominated for more than one award per year.
• Students may receive an OSCA-ACOSO Award only once.
• OSCA-ACOSO Awards are one-time awards only.  
• Decisions made by the OSCA-ACOSO Board regarding nominations are final.

Nomination Deadline is May 28, 2021

We are pleased to invite you to a free, virtual Guidance Dialogues event on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, from 9:25 a.m. to noon.

We will provide a general update on application statistics and recruitment activities.

Following these updates, representatives from each Ontario university will provide live admission updates and up-to-date information about their university. University updates will be given one at a time and each update will be approximately 3 minutes.

Following the university updates and throughout the morning, you will have the opportunity to engage directly with university representatives in their session rooms to ask any questions you may have.

Registration for this event is required and will be available soon. This event is for guidance counsellors only.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Nous sommes heureux de vous inviter à une séance virtuelle gratuite des Dialogues pour conseillères et conseillers, le mercredi 7 avril 2021, de 9 h 25 à 12 h.

Nous y présenterons une mise à jour générale des statistiques relatives aux inscriptions et des activités de recrutement.

À la suite de ces mises à jour, des représentantes et représentants de chaque université de l’Ontario fourniront des mises à jour en temps réel sur les admissions, ainsi que les tout derniers renseignements au sujet de leur université. Ces mises à jour seront données à tour de rôle, chacune devant durer environ 3 minutes.

À la suite des mises à jour des universités et tout au long de la matinée, vous aurez l’occasion d’échanger directement avec les représentantes et représentants d’université dans leur salle de séance et de leur poser des questions.

L’inscription à cet événement est obligatoire et sera disponible bientôt. Cet événement s’adresse uniquement aux conseillères et conseillers en orientation.

PennyDrops is a student-run, non-profit organization that offers financial literacy programs to high school and university students across the country. 

Teachers can use the PennyDrops Anywhere platform to let students learn basic financial concepts at their own pace, where they will progress through the first 6 lessons of our curriculum by watching videos and taking pre and post-lesson quizzes. They can also register their classrooms to have our university mentors deliver all 11 of our lessons in a synchronous format, using small groups and interactive activities. To learn more about the PennyDrops High School Program, please view the Overview Deck, and if you would like to register your classroom for the program, please email us at contact@pennydrops.org.

Career development is a lifelong process, but most career practitioners have access to a limited number of career exploration assessments. Moreover, for most not-for-profit career services, the time and cost of administering a full battery of tests is prohibitive. The good news is that there are plenty of free career exploration and personality assessment resources available online.

In the past, career exploration was used primarily during secondary or post-secondary education. The goal was to guide and assist students in making informed choices when preparing to enter the work world. But these days, most adult workers recognize the long-term benefits of becoming lifelong learners as they deal with multiple career transitions.

It’s that time of year again—when we release our LinkedIn Top Experts list! Each year, we compile a list of job searching experts who generously share their insight and advice on LinkedIn. We sift through countless profiles, searching for quality advice that is actionable, insightful, and engaging.

This video guides you through a forest visualization exercise. It can help you to slow your breathing and ground your thoughts, calming you when you feel overwhelmed or stressed. For educators, this video can be used with students to help them ground themselves and settle anxious feelings.

The goal of this group is to create a network of support for educators trying to create anti-racist change in their school.

This group will focus on:

- connecting with other educators doing anti-racist work in K-12 school settings
- sharing activities and resources we have come across or used to teach anti-racism to staff or students
- supporting each other in the struggle to engage resistant staff, students, administrators, or families
- problem-solving challenges we are facing as we do this work
- collaborating to generate ideas for actions, activities, and policies to promote anti-racism in schools
- examining curriculum and school culture to promote equity, representation, and engagement from all groups
- creating affinity groups within the group in order to discuss the specific needs and challenges of different educator populations
- building a community to collaborate to make changes on a local and larger basis

Life isn’t fair.

The fact that life isn’t fair won’t be news to anyone involved in career development work. Everyone has seen a client or a student who has enormous potential, but whose life is so complex that it is impossible for them to build the career that they dream of. Or been frustrated that the educational system is so rigid or the employment or benefit regulations so limiting. And everyone has felt empathy for clients who are struggling, bullied and undervalued. But what can you do about it?

Martha started in guidance several years ago. After having taught in the secondary classroom in areas of French, Geography, Math and religion to name a few. She has taught abroad and enjoys bridging international experiences for students in the career/life planning opportunities.
As a registered yoga teacher, she has used the covid time to deepen her self awareness and really putting her yoga philosophy to work. She continues to enjoy reading, walking, biking and her new found loves, gardening and home improvement.
___________________________________________________________________________________

Martha a commencé dans l'orientation il y a plusieurs années. Après avoir enseigné le français, la géographie, les mathématiques et la religion au secondaire pour n'en nommer que quelques-uns, elle a enseigné à l'étranger et aime faire le pont entre les expériences internationales des élèves dans le domaine de la planification de carrière et la vie.
En tant que professeure reconnue de yoga, elle a utilisé le temps du Covid pour approfondir sa conscience de soi et vraiment mettre sa philosophie du yoga au travail. Elle continue à aimer la lecture, la marche, le vélo et ses nouvelles amours, le jardinage et la rénovation.

 

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

This next issue of OSCA Today will drop into your mailbox one year into this global pandemic,
which only appears to be getting worse before it gets better. We have all made sacrifices.
Many of us may be managing but many more are not. Educators across our province are
witnessing first-hand how many of our students are struggling. This pandemic continues to put
a strain on all of us especially our students and their families. We need help with advice and
resources. We need you!

Here is what we need:

First. Resources. We would like your suggestion for support agencies that our students can
reach out to. We especially need resources for our BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, People of Colour,
2SLGBTQQ students.

Second. Articles. If you have stories, ideas or advice to help us and our students endure this
pandemic, we would love to hear from you. We would love it if you would write an article for
OSCA Today.

Please reach out and submit your resources and articles ideas to Roderick Conte, OSCA VP of
Communications at rbconte@yahoo.com

 

Next session: July 9th to July 31st

All three parts will be offered. Candidates may enrol in one part.

Cost: $650 (includes a copy of ethical guidelines and a one year OSCA Subscription)

Taught by a current school Guidance Counsellor, through an interactive, online classroom environment.

Candidates must hold a valid OCT and be in good standing to register.