Community Support
Suspense and intrigue guaranteed in Red Dot Players' biggest production yet
March 8, 2024
Get your ticket and climb aboard for a delightful evening of murder and mystery as OC’s Red Dot Players bring to life Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. For the play’s assistant Director and OC alumna Kendra Holly Grant, the support of Red Dot Players and her former professor has given her the opportunity to take her skills from the classroom to directing her first show. “I am very excited to progress my knowledge with Jeremy Beaulne, who was my teacher and mentor while attending Okanagan College,” said Grant. “...
Read more...Thrive Here video celebrates lessons learned in a 'classroom like no other'
March 8, 2024
For 20-year-old AJ Nguoth, playing basketball is about more than jump shots and free throws.On the court, Nguoth says he works through real life struggles as he's putting his energy into the game. Playing basketball is also a reminder that he is on the right path. The sport has been his north star since he was 11, keeping him focused on school and inspiring him to dream big for his life.Nguoth, an Okanagan College Coyotes Basketball player and first-year OC student, is one of several student athletes featured in a new video by the Okanagan ...
Read more...Highstreet champions careers in Trades with $1-million gift to Okanagan College to benefit students
February 28, 2024
Are you considering post-secondary? Kelowna-based real estate and development company, Highstreet, wants you to know that pursuing a skilled trade can lead to a rewarding career, full of growth, success and leadership opportunities.It is this message and a desire to support students that has motivated Highstreet to donate an astounding $1 million dollars to Okanagan College’s Trades and Apprenticeship programs.Their gift will focus on providing financial support to students starting an entry-level trades program. Thirteen annual bursaries o...
Read more...Serwa Spirit Match to raise $1M for Thrive Here campaign for a Recreation and Wellness Centre
February 7, 2024
Cliff Serwa describes himself and his wife Lois as just ‘ordinary people with a fair bit of determination working to make things happen.’ That may be true, but the results and impact of their determination on the community, the province and beyond are far reaching and forever lasting. And now they are leading the way to a better future for students at Okanagan College (OC).When approached to support the Thrive Here campaign to build a much-needed Recreation and Wellness Centre at the College’s Kelowna campus, not only did Cliff and Loi...
Read more...City of Kelowna supports OC trades programs through garbage truck donation
November 1, 2023
One person’s trash certainly can be another’s treasure. The City of Kelowna proved the old saying true by donating a garbage truck to Okanagan College’s Trades and Apprenticeship program this September. “When we determined that this garbage truck was at the end of its service life, we were happy to donate it as a hands-on training tool for Okanagan College students,” said Scott Hoekstra, Manager, Landfill & Composing Operations, City of Kelowna. “We’re facing a shortage of skilled trades professionals, and we know that this donation w...
Read more...THRIVE HERE campaign kicks off with record-level support
October 25, 2023
Okanagan College Foundation launches campaign to build a new Recreation and Wellness Centre at its Kelowna campus; Folk family makes record-setting gift KELOWNA - It’s ‘Game Day’ at Okanagan College! Today, OC students, donors, leaders, staff and community members came together to celebrate the launch of the Thrive Here campaign to build a new Recreation and Wellness Centre on the Kelowna campus. Making the announcement to the approximately 100 people in attendance, including members from the OC Coyotes basketball and baseball teams, Okan...
Read more...OC fundraiser to light way for new childcare centre
October 18, 2023
Dress up with your kids, enjoy a matinee, then parade downtown Vernon with glow up lanterns and a stilt walker. An upcoming event aims to cast a glow on children’s faces while also lighting a path for a new childcare centre at Okanagan College’s Vernon campus. The Okanagan College Foundation is hosting Glow UP: A Matinee, Masquerade and Lantern Light Up Saturday, Oct. 28. Participants can make their own lanterns at an upcoming workshop hosted by local artists at Okanagan College Saturday, Oct. 21 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.&nb...
Read more...OC student chefs supporting community
August 25, 2023
You can call it cooking with love. Students from the Okanagan Chef School at Okanagan College dropped plans this week for a final feast to celebrate the end of their program and jumped into supporting the local emergency response instead. Typically, students at the Okanagan Chef School host a community dinner at the end of their year and one was planned for this week. However, when the event had to be cancelled due to the area wildfires, the students decided to shift their focus to preparing meals for those engaged in the response ...
Read more...OC community steps up to support wildfire efforts
August 24, 2023
The OC community has been busy this week, stepping up to support wildfire efforts in their communities and supporting friends, family and neighbours in many different ways. The cancellation of this week’s Connections event at Okanagan College, an event led by employees to kick off a new school year, meant some timely donations of lunches and snacks went out to people who are supporting the wildfire efforts in the Okanagan Valley. It was just one example of the many efforts the OC community has undertaken in their communities. Thank ...
Read more...$40,000 gift creates lasting tribute to former Okanagan University College Professor Dr. Sylvia Janet Russell
June 27, 2023
In her twenty-year tenure as a history professor at Okanagan University College (the predecessor to Okanagan College), Dr. Sylvia Janet Russell breathed life into bustling classrooms, transforming them into vibrant hubs of knowledge and inspiration. Now in a fitting tribute to her legacy, an anonymous $40,000 gift will establish a bursary fund in her honour. The Dr. Sylvia Janet Russell Memorial Fund will provide bursaries to students who have fulfilled the graduation requirements for Okanagan College’s Associate of Arts diploma - with a p...
Read more...Plant a Seed Day fundraiser sprouts an impressive $66,000 in gifts for the new Sunflower Childcare Centre on OC's Vernon Campus
May 17, 2023
Okanagan College Foundation is thrilled to announce the success of Plant a Seed Day, a fun-filled, family-friendly fundraiser that, thanks to generous community support, raised $66,000 for the Sunflower Childcare Centre. The funds will be put towards equipment, furnishings, supplies, and a creative outdoor space where kids can learn and play. Event guests had the opportunity to experience child-led yoga, sunflower-themed art classes, country line dancing, and a delicious lemonade crawl – all made possible thanks to generous sponsors: Kal T...
Read more...Sowing the seeds for a better future for student parents in Vernon
April 28, 2023
College Foundation hosts fundraiser for new Sunflower Childcare Centre Sunflowers blooming, the promise of new beginnings, and brighter futures for student parents in Vernon will be the focus of Okanagan College Foundation’s upcoming Plant a Seed Day Fundraiser. The fun-filled event will take place on May 10, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will support the new, affordable, 44-seat on-campus Sunflower Childcare Centre, operated by local, non-profit childcare provider Maven Lane. Guests will be invited to “tap into their inner child”...
Read more...Bridging the way to success: Emil Anderson Construction gives $75,000 to modernize Okanagan College’s Civil Engineering Technology Program
April 17, 2023
If you walk past Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus on a weekday afternoon, you’re sure to see Civil Engineering Technology students spread out across the grounds, gathering environmental data using surveying equipment. This skill is essential to their education and will one day help them shape our built environments. Thanks to a generous $75,000 gift from Emil Anderson Construction, students will have increased access to state-of-the-art surveying equipment to train on by fall of 2023. “We are proud to support Okanagan College’s Civil Engi...
Read more...Inspire at OC Revelstoke: Volunteer to Tutor
April 4, 2023
One of the ongoing programs the Revelstoke Centre of Okanagan College is proud to continuously offer is the Volunteer Literacy Tutoring program. Melissa Jameson, a resident of Revelstoke since 2007 whom some may recognize from her work at Community Connections, or more recently the civic affairs reporter for the Revelstoke Mountaineer, has been the volunteer coordinator for the program since October 2022. Jameson has been struggling to match several learners with tutors and wonders if there is a misconception about what the tutor position i...
Read more...Ready, Set, Grow! Okanagan College Foundation kicks off its Sunflower Childcare Centre Campaign with an inspiring event at the Vernon Campus
March 15, 2023
Enthusiastic young volunteers led games and activities at the launch of Okanagan College Foundation’s $1.25 million campaign in support of a new on-campus childcare centre, planned to open in the fall of 2024. Held on Mar. 1 at OC’s Vernon campus, the event drew 65 guests and celebrated the kickoff of the Sunflower Childcare Centre fundraising campaign. Donor and former College instructor Lloyd Davies spoke about his family’s decision to contribute $500,000 to the cause. "Time and again, I would have students missing class, missing ...
Read more...Understanding Ableism: Join us for an Anti-Ableism presentation by Spring Hawes at OC Kelowna on Jan. 19
January 13, 2023
A group of Okanagan College students and employees are further advancing conversation and action around anti-ableism and accessibility at OC this winter through an upcoming talk and series of follow-up events. Okanagan College Kelowna’s Accessibility Alliance invites the OC community to attend an anti-ableism presentation by entrepreneur and advocate Spring Hawes on January 19 from noon -2:30 p.m. in the Centre for Learning Atrium (E Building). In her presentation Hawes will il...
Read more...