
College students mentoring high school peers for Sustainable Development Challenge

It’s students helping students tackle the biggest issues of our time.
Okanagan College (OC) students have joined forces with youth leaders in Grades 8 to 12 in the Central Okanagan to provide mentorship on projects that will impact the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The high school teams are preparing for a local Sustainable Development Challenge event, inspired by the UN initiative, and are able to bounce their ideas and projects off OC students prior to the challenge finale later this month.
VIDEO: OC students support high school teams in Sustainable Development Challenge
“Having our students connect with the younger generation of high school students creates such a great energy and discussion about sustainable practices and some of the big issues the world is dealing with,” said OC professor Danielle Robinson who split her third-year Sustainable Management class into groups to work with each of the teams involved in the challenge. “Together students are developing incredible innovative solutions.”
Teams from four Kelowna high schools are working with OC students and will meet three times as they prepare for the competition finale, a live event where students will pitch their projects to judges and a public audience. Top teams receive funding and support to make their ideas reality. The live pitch event will be held at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on Feb. 23.
“Being able to work with high school students has been amazing,” said third year OC Sustainable Management student MacKenna Lenarcic, herself a veteran of team competitions as president of Enactus Okanagan. “We have been very impressed with the groups and the ideas they have. It’s been exciting to share information with the next wave of student leaders.”
The Sustainable Development Challenge is a partnership between Global Citizen Events and the Global Empowerment Coalition of the Central Okanagan (GECCO). It has been ongoing since 2003, promoting the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and celebrating the impact Okanagan citizens are making in humanitarian efforts.
“It’s been really great for the high school teams to get mentors who are a little closer in age to them,” said challenge organizer Antonia DeBoer. “They were so excited to be on the Okanagan College campus and I think it was nice for them to be able to visualize one day being in a post-secondary setting.”
Okanagan College’s Sustainable Management class is part of a four-year Bachelor of Business Administration degree program in the College’s Okanagan School of Business.
For more information on the School of Business at OC, click here.
Tags: Okanagan School of Business, Kelowna, Partnership
TOP STORIES
RELATED STORIES
Sign up for weekly stories

Minister and Mayor open Kelowna’s newest active transportation corridor for riders
June 14, 2022
The Casorso active transportation corridor (ATC) between Raymer Ave. and KLO Rd. is the latest addition to Kelowna’s cycling network and it is now ready for riders. The B.C. Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Honourable Rob Fleming, visited Okanagan College to recognize and celebrate the completion of this project. The College is one of the main destinations connected along the Ethel Casorso ATC corridor stretching from Downtown Kelowna to the Pandosy Urban Centre. “Having safe and convenient routes for walking, cycling and acti...
Read more...
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 wo...
Read more...
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 critical thinkin...
Read more...
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 accelerators...
Read more...