Western Canada gold advances three OC teams to Enactus Nationals

By College Relations | March 8, 2017
           

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}

Thirteen students from Okanagan College’s Enactus team will be a whole lot busier this semester as they prepare to take on the rest of the country in Vancouver in May after notching three first-place finishes at the Regional Western Canada Enactus Exposition in Calgary last weekend.

The team from OC came first in Financial Education, Entrepreneurship, and Youth Empowerment, as well as third in Ecoliving Green. The four podium finishes earned the team $5,000 in cash prizes and three berths to the National Exposition on May 9 – 11.

The four teams are made up of students from Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton. They represent a much larger contingent of students who deliver community-based projects through Enactus Okanagan College.

“This is an absolutely fantastic result for our students,” said Roy Daykin, Vice President of Employee and Corporate Services, who was present at the competition to support the team. “We know first-hand the impact our students have in our community based on the quality of the work they do on projects like CANSave and Silver Surfers but to be recognized at this competition validates just how relevant their work is.”

Five Kelowna students won the Capital One Financial Education challenge after impressing the judges with their award-winning project CANSave. The project, which teaches financial literacy skills to elementary students, began in Kelowna last year and has since spread to 80 communities across the country, impacting more than 6,000 students. Last month CANSave’s founder Abbey Jones was recognized with the first BC Social Innovation Youth Award for her work on the project. In addition to Jones, team members included Daniel Alfred, Julia Lalach, Cody Troutman, and Rochelle Diaz. The team is coached by faculty mentor Devin Rubadeau.

Dr. Kyleen Myrah is no stranger to coaching Enactus students to the podium—her team of students won the TD Entrepreneurship challenge based on the work they have done in Kelowna with the Silver Surfers program. The innovative program pairs OC students with seniors living in retirement facilities and provides training on the use of technology and devices such as the iPad. The program’s goal is to help seniors connect with loved ones and helps reduce the communication barriers and isolation. The team was made up of Meaghan Barnard, Zabrina Semchuk, Cameron Starcheski, and Rebecca Alfred.

"To achieve four podium finishes at the Regional Enactus competition, including three first-place wins, is an incredible testament to the quality of our students and the community outreach projects they are engaged in," said Myrah. "We can't wait to showcase our community impact at the National exposition in May in Vancouver, and are so appreciative of the support we get from our institution and our community."

Enactus Okanagan College also won first in the Scotiabank Youth Empowerment challenge after presenting on the impact of the CANSave project. The Vernon-based team was made up of Mitchell Pepper, Christianne Edblad, and Anthony Peterson, who are all from Vernon and Gabby Edblad (Kelowna). The team was coached by professor Andrew Klingel. 

“Regionals showed me Enactus goes beyond my college, beyond B.C. even,” said Christianne Edblad. “The fact that OC students are spending hours and hours of our time to make the world a better place is beyond me. These are the quality of people I want to surround myself with and this is why I love competitions.”

In the Scotiabank Ecoliving Green challenge Okanagan College finished third after presenting on their Penticton project Healthy Housing and their Trash Talk initiative in Kelowna. The team consisted of one student from Penticton, Meghan Steele, and three from Kelowna: Millanne Desfosses, Jamie Park, and Bliss Ducharme. They are coached by Dr. Sheilagh Seaton.

With the wins, Enactus Okanagan College took home three cash awards of $1,500 and one award of $500. They also earned three berths to the national competition for their first-place finishes. 




TOP STORIES

RELATED STORIES

Sign up for weekly stories




Trending

Communications student standing outside the Centre for Learning building at the Kelowna campus
Meet Ruth Gabriela Melo Flores

April 4, 2023

Q: What's your name? A: Ruth Gabriela Melo Flores Q: What's your hometown? A: Quito – Ecuador – South America Q: How did you end up at Okanagan College? A: Well, I studied for a bachelor's degree in Law in Ecuador. Then, I worked for a while and got my Master's degree in Government and Culture of Organizations at the University of Pamplona.  When I returned to my country, professional opportunities arose for me. I mean, a Master's degree improved my career. Spain helped ...

Read more...
Animation student
Artistic students design future careers in animation

June 7, 2022

Grads of Okanagan College’s Animation Diploma program are finding their skills have never been in higher demand. First- and second-year students showed samples of their artwork and demo reels to industry partners at OC’s annual Animation Industry Night on May 17. “Lots of the work was very professional,” says James Wood, Chair of Okanagan College’s Animation Department. “Our program is short, but intense. The instructors make sure the students have a realistic understanding of what they need do to succeed in a competitive and demanding...

Read more...
JAMK campus
OC Business students embrace international study again

May 30, 2022

Business students from Okanagan College are once again able to travel to Jyväskylä, Finland to experience an international summer school at the JAMK University of Applied Sciences.  Finland’s education system is widely regarded as one of the best in the world.  OC Business Professor Blair Baldwin, who has taught Services Design at JAMK for several summers, says working in Finland has helped him innovate and create new teaching methodologies. “JAMK employs experiential learning across its curriculum,” he says. “They stress cri...

Read more...
Enactus 2022
Enactus Okanagan College tops the field, sets sights on national championships

May 27, 2022

Okanagan College students will once again be competing for the Canadian title after qualifying for the Enactus National Exposition with a first-place finish in their league during the semi-final round. Enactus teams at post-secondary institutions across Canada competed virtually earlier this month, and Okanagan College scooped up top position in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge, and runner-up in the Scotiabank Climate Action Challenge for the Unusually Good Food Co. project. It also included national runner-up in Shaw and RBC accelerator...

Read more...