~NEW~ Deadline for submission / Date limite pour la soumission:
May 28 2021 / 28 Mai 2021

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-seen-before 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.

With feedback from our members, we are excited to host a virtual conference this year that will allow education professionals to unpack and solution urgent needs with the objective of helping students to embrace and prepare for the realities of an uncertain future. Join us as we move forward: FORWARD21: Moving from Chaos to Opportunity.
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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.

Avec les commentaires de nos membres, nous sommes ravis cette année d'offrir une conférence virtuelle qui permettra aux professionnels de l'éducation de déballer et de répondre aux besoins urgents dans le but d'aider les élèves à accepter et à se préparer aux réalités d'un avenir incertain. Rejoignez-vous à nous, alors que nous avançons: VERS L’AVANT21: Passer du chaos à l'opportunité.

The Ontario School Counsellor Association recognizes that we need more racialized people to become Guidance Counsellors in Ontario. More racialized people working as Guidance Counsellors will help our students feel safer, represented, and seen. It will help our schools and our organization through more adequate representation of the socio-cultural composition of Ontarians, and amplify much needed perspectives.
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L'Association des conseillères et des conseillers d’orientation scolaire de l'Ontario reconnaît que nous avons besoin de plus de personnes racialisées pour devenir des conseillers en orientation en Ontario. Un plus grand nombre de personnes racialisées travaillant comme conseillers en orientation aideront nos élèves à se sentir plus en sécurité, représentés et vus. Il aidera nos écoles et notre organisation grâce à une représentation plus adéquate de la composition socioculturelle des Ontariennes et des Ontariens et à amplifier les perspectives indispensables.

Bonjour! Parlez-vous français? Avez-vous un baccalauréat, une maîtrise, ou un doctorat en français et vous aimez traduire de l''anglais au français?

L'ACOSO a besoin de vous!
 
L'association des conseillères et des conseillers d'orientation scolaire de l'Ontario est à la recherche de traductrices ou traducteur francophone pour traduire notre bulletin d'information, notre revue trimestrielle, notre site web et tous nos autres projets. Nous offrons 10 - 15 cents du mot. Si vous êtes intéressé, veuillez envoyer votre CV par courriel à la présidente de l''ACOSO Cathy Lihou à l''adresse suivante : cathylihou@gmail.com.

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Speak French? Have a B.A., Masters or Ph.D. in French? Enjoy translating
English into French? OSCA Needs You!

The Ontario School Counsellors' Association is looking for individuals who would like to do some French translation. We are offering 10 to 15 cents per word. We will need translation for our newsletter, quarterly magazine, website and other projects as the come up. Interested candidates should send their resume to OSCA President, Cathy Lihou at cathylihou@gmail.com

 

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

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!

Nomination deadline is May 28, 2021

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.

Learn More!

This is the fourth lesson in a series of six lessons to support the development of stress management
and healthy coping skills.

This virtual field trip focuses on distraction activities and how this strategy can help us manage stress.
From time to time all of us can feel overwhelmed with feelings and situations that cause us stress.
Distraction is one strategy that can help give us some space from those feelings and an opportunity to
settle our mind and emotions. There are many activities that can help us refocus our mind and each of us is different in what works best for us.

SMART is a 9-session, 20-hour, evidence-based program designed to address the needs of all educators including teachers, educational assistants, child and youth workers, staff, administrators, social workers, psychologists and other helping professionals who work with students.

This evidence-based course trains participants to better mange work-related and personal stress in order to cultivate emotional balance.

Teens today need help to manage anxiety, cultivate empathy and compassion and develop coping skills. Mindfulness can help them, and this introductory workshop will help you teach mindfulness to teens. Whether you’re a teacher, education support worker, or other youth service practitioner, you’ll get the information and resources you need to design a new mindfulness curriculum or implement an existing one. You’ll explore the core elements of mindfulness training, practical applications, curriculum connections, neuroscience research, customized lesson plans and adaptations for different populations.

This past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted learning for more than 1.6 billion students in over 190 countries. With movement between bricks-and-mortar schools and online learning becoming the "new normal," young people, families, educators and the public are seeking assurance that students are receiving the best education possible.

They are also concerned about students disengaging from school amid these changes and want to know what schools can do to encourage students to finish high school.

With pivots in how students are learning still possible in the race between COVID-19 vaccines and variants, it’s important to look beyond concerns about how students attend school to what helps them learn and engage with school. Not surprisingly, success leads to more success.

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.