What does evidence-based treatment for childhood anxiety challenges look like online?
How can we better incorporate parents into the treatment of childhood anxiety to improve client outcomes?

Hear Dr. Kelly N. Banneyer, Licensed Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, discuss the research and her personal experiences treating children with anxiety online.

As we plan our first hybrid Cannexus conference...
Planning for Cannexus, Canada's Career Development Conference in January 2022 is now underway. Cannexus22 is expected to be a hybrid conference with a live in-person and virtual portion. More information about the format and schedule will be available in the coming months.

At this point, CERIC invites individuals or organizations with an interest in presenting at the 16th annual Cannexus to submit a brief session outline for consideration using the Proposal Form and encourages you to inform colleagues or students of this opportunity.

Submitting a proposal is not a commitment to present at the conference. If you submit a proposal and you are selected to present, you will receive a formal email invitation by the summer – with further details on session type, duration and whether in-person or virtual – and at that time you will be given a deadline to accept or decline the invitation.
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Alors que nous planifions notre première congrès hybride Cannexus
La planification du congrès canadien en développement de carrière de Cannexus en janvier 2022 est maintenant en cours. On s'attend à ce que Cannexus22 soit un congrès hybride avec en personne et une partie virtuelle. Plus d'informations sur le format et le calendrier seront disponibles dans les mois à venir.

À ce stade, le CERIC invite les individus ou les organisations intéressés à présenter à la 16e édition de Cannexus à soumettre une brève proposition de présentation via le formulaire d’application qui suit. N'hésitez pas à partager cette invitation avec vos collègues ou étudiants.

Nous tenons à vous assurer que soumettre une proposition n'est pas un engagement à présenter au congrès. Si vous soumettez une proposition et que vous êtes sélectionné pour présenter, vous recevrez une invitation officielle par courriel d'ici l'été. Cette invitation contiendra plus de détails sur le type de séance, la durée et si elle est en personne ou virtuelle, et à ce moment-là, vous aurez un délai pour accepter ou refuser l'invitation.

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.
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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

Join us for a rewarding and enriching afternoon of laughter, self-care and to recognize you are not alone!
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 IS NOW OPEN! CLICK "LEARN MORE TO FIND THE REGISTRATION LINK.
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Rejoignez-nous pour un après-midi enrichissant de rire, de soins personnels et de reconnaître que vous n'êtes pas seul!
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.
L'INSCRIPTION EST MAINTENANT OUVERTE! CLIQUEZ SUR "EN SAVOIR PLUS POUR TROUVER LE LIEN D'INSCRIPTION.

This year we will be delivering a hybrid version of College Dialogues. We will again be offering a Dialogues-on-demand web page, but this year we will be adding live events for our guidance counsellor friends across the province.

All college updates will be featured on the DoD page, the live sessions will be reserved for live Q&A only between the colleges and counsellors.

Ryerson University is in the midst of planning virtual programming for high schools involved in Specialist High Skill Majors (SHSM) during the month of May. We have created a form to gather information on whether this type of virtual programming would be of interest at this time. The information you provide will be extremely valuable and should only take a few moments to complete.

Should you and your school be interested, please complete the form below by Wednesday, April 28.

Disability Credit Canada’s mission is to help disabled Canadians receive the full benefits and credits they deserve from the Canadian government. As a Disability Tax Credit & CPP Disability firm we work closely with disabled Canadians and their families and we recognize the unique challenges they face.

Disability Credit Canada is committed to helping young disabled Canadians achieve their goals in higher education or vocational training towards employment and we are proud to be offering the "DCCI Scholarship for Canadian Students with Disabilities"

The annual scholarship winner will be awarded $1,000 towards their tuition to an accredited Canadian post-secondary institution.
The scholarship will be awarded to a Canadian high school student with a documented disability who is pursuing post-secondary education in the field of study in health care, criminal justice or community & social services at an accredited Canadian institution for the upcoming academic year 2021/2022.

Guest Speakers from Tendril Studios

 

 

Tendril Studios is a design-driven animation, vfx, and digital innovation studio creating beautiful and thoughtful visuals across all mediums. We have an awesome community outreach program where we look to engage with young, up-and-coming artists to give them an idea of the kind of work we do and how someone could develop a career in our field. Our virtual presentation doesn't cost anything, as we're only looking to give back and help foster creative talent! The whole presentation and chat will be about 60 minutes, we'll talk about what we do and then a few of our artists will talk about what they thought their careers would look like, and the actual work they do at Tendril. Considering classrooms are virtual right now, it could certainly fit into a number of curricula, as well as a virtual career day!

 

Please follow the link to our website so you can get a better sense of the work that we do, and how an informative, inclusive talk might benefit the students you work with: https://tendril.ca/

To get in touch, email Emma at officemanager@tendril.ca

This virtual field trip focuses on visualization activities and how this strategy can help us manage stress.
It is important to recognize how our body feels, while noticing and acknowledging our feelings. Guided
imagery provides an opportunity to shift our focus away from worries and distractions.
It can help us relax when we visualize an image that promotes feelings of calm.

In the summer of 2015, Shanice Nicole wrote a "love letter to Black girls" in the form of a poem titled "Dear Black Girls." Now she is reintroducing the poem as a children’s book that will be released on Feb. 8.

Nicole transformed the poem into a book in collaboration with illustrator Kezna Dalz and Metonymy Press. The Montreal publishing company’s website reminds readers that "to be a Black girl is a true gift."

Nicole is a Montreal-based educator, facilitator, writer, and as she claims in her online biographies, an "(out)spoken word artist."

With COVID-19 restrictions in place across the province, Skills Ontario has made the decision to deliver our annual Skills Ontario Competition and Career Exploration Showcase in a virtual format. It is important to Skills Ontario to work with our partners as well as Ontario students to give them a chance to connect and explore the many opportunities that exist in skilled trade and technology careers.

The event will be run on the VFairs platform from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm (EST) and will be set up to replicate the experience of the Toronto Congress Centre event as closely as possible, but without the need to travel! Students will have the opportunity to view competitions, join conferences and explore potential career opportunities with Skills Ontario partners!

The FOLD 2021 Festival Program is now available! Each year, the FOLD produces a festival publication which includes essays and poetry from writers across Canada. The Program also includes the Festival Schedule and, in 2021, an At-A-Glance page which outlines all of the festival sessions.

You're invited to a free workshop for caring (but tired) educators!

Check out this video!

Session Dates: 

Tuesdays at 7:30 PM EST

Understanding Pandemic Burnout - May 4th 

Why show up? You'll learn:

o Three reasons this pandemic feels so exhausting 
o Practical strategies to overcome the overwhelm 
o What’s causing YOUR stress

 
Less Prep, Less Marking, More Fun - May 11th

Why show up? You’ll learn:

o What students really need from their teachers right now
o Why dropping (some) curriculum will get better results
o A simple strategy to make ANY subject more fun
 

Teach Better with Tech (Without Doing More) - May 18th 

Why show up? You’ll learn:

o Engagement-boosting tech tips for teachers who avoid tech
o Three ways to use video content to make your life easier
o Exciting possibilities for education in a virtual world

Sign up here!

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/

 

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.

Rushing River

Must Love Dogs

Seven years ago, my husband and I were looking to expand our furry family and get a dog. We both are busy teachers, so we wanted a low maintenance pup. I headed straight to Google and quickly searched “lazy dogs”. To my surprise the fastest dog on the planet - the greyhound, is quite the lounge hound...more sprinter than marathoner. We also learned that the only way to adopt a Greyhound was to acquire a dog that has just retired from their racing careers. Greyhounds are primarily bred for racing similar to horse racing. 

We found an organization in Toronto that would help facilitate our adoption of these gentle speedsters. Upon approval of our application we were on the way to grow our family. A little side story we helped the organization bring dogs from the US to Canada, a very surreal experience as we huddled in a Buffalo garage to await the transfer of dogs from Ohio. We were handed two dogs who eagerly jumped into our car and without a sound made the trip to Toronto. Lo and behold on the journey was our new pooch....Gary Gold, and just last year we added another hound, Twinkle Toes (she is a champion).

Having a dog or dogs means there are no days off for walks, in rain, sleet, snow, the hounds must we walked at least twice a day. During the lockdown, Gary and Twinkie walks bumped up to 3 times a day. Just getting outside, getting fresh air and going for a walk really helped our body, mind and soul.