OCNews

Learning & Programs

New OC Dean of Science and Tehnology Dr. Halia Valladares Montemayor.
New Dean of Science and Technology to join OC this July

May 17, 2023

Okanagan College is pleased to announce that Dr. Halia Valladares Montemayor will assume the role of Dean, Science and Technology at Okanagan College starting July 1. Halia is an established leader in post-secondary instruction and administration, and we are excited to have her join OC.   Halia brings a wealth of experience to her role. She is a former special projects Advisor to the Vice-President Academic at Capilano University and the former Dean of the Faculty of Business and Professional Studies at Capilano. Most recently, Halia was th...

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Emil Anderson group photo
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 Engin...

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Unu
Enactus OC’s Unusually Good Food Co. expands to 19 cities

April 14, 2023

Student entrepreneurs from Okanagan College (OC) are taking their fight against food waste and food insecurity to more businesses throughout Western Canada, as their social enterprise the Unusually Good Food Co. is expanding. With the goal of donating one-million servings of apple chips to children, the Unusually Good Food Co. has formed a partnership with Loblaw Companies Limited, expanding to 19 cities in Western Canada with its line of apple juice. “This is so exciting for our social enterprise to be able to partner with such a well-know...

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A man pouring wine in a tasting room.
BCBTAC Workshop Series

April 6, 2023

BCBTAC Workshop Series BCBTAC and Continuing Studies have partnered to create a series of affordable 3-hour workshops to help the local beverage community with training of staff. Facilitated by industry professionals, the training will elevate skills and setup the best season, delivered at the right time just as we are all gearing up for the tourist season. Topics include Customer Service, Sales, Sensory Skills, and Digital Marketing Cost Per Course: $60 plus material fees. Do you need customized training? We can help with the development a...

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Jillian Seronik
Same studies, but worlds apart: OC student enriched by study abroad

April 4, 2023

For one Okanagan College student, studying abroad turned into an opportunity to learn new ways of preserving old traditions in one of the most fast-paced countries in the world. Jillian Seronik, a fourth-year Bachelor of Business Administration student from Kelowna, travelled to Nisshin, Japan, last term as part of Okanagan College’s mobility program. She had always wanted to do post-secondary studies abroad but her dream of international studies was put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, she signed up for mobility updates in the off...

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Roberta Sawatzky is presented with a check for the Derek Cook Memorial Award.
OC professor makes connections in France with Derek Cook Memorial Award

March 28, 2023

Okanagan College professor Roberta Sawatzky’s recent trip to France wasn’t just to experience the culture.   No, Roberta was on an international mission to establish connections with partner schools in France and provide further opportunities for Okanagan College (OC) students and faculty to study or work abroad. Roberta is the 2023 recipient of the Okanagan College Derek Cook Memorial Award for International Opportunities, which was established by the College to honor the memory of Derek Cook, an OC professor who passed away in 2017.   Rob...

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Elizabeth Cook
Meet Elizabeth Cook

March 17, 2023

Q: What is your name? A: Elizabeth (Lizzy) Cook Q: What are your pronouns? A: She/Her/Hers Q: Where is your hometown and where are you located now? A: Hometown is Conifer, Colorado. Currently located in Denver, Colorado. Q: What did you take at OC? When did you graduate? A: Bachelor of Business Administration and graduated in 2016. Q: What got you interested in your program A: I wasn’t sure what I “wanted to do with my life,” and the business program seemed like it would provide a ...

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Yael Cohen and Helen Jackman
Watt a gift! Okanagan College’s Electronics Engineering Technology Program gets an $80,000 boost from a local engineer

March 6, 2023

Yael Cohen, a Vernon-based communications engineer, recently donated $80,000 in state-of-the-art electronic equipment to Okanagan College’s Electronics Engineering Technology program. The gift included hundreds of electrical components that will be used by program instructors to build in-class electrical circuits and test demos and will be made available to students for use in their end-of-term capstone projects.  “I was fortunate to receive numerous scholarships when I was in school, and I wanted to pay it forward,” says Cohen, an Okanag...

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Spaghetti Bridge 2023
Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest serves up fun and learning at OC

March 3, 2023

Friday marked a triumphant return for a popular pasta-themed community event at Okanagan College, as the 38th annual Spaghetti Bridge Building Competition brought loads of fun and friendly competition to a boil. More than 250 students from elementary through post-secondary converged on OC’s Kelowna campus on Mar. 3, to see whose spaghetti bridge would reign supreme. In addition to furthering their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), participants of the contest – back for the first time since pre-pandemic – also c...

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A group of Early Childhood Education students at Okanagan College.
Personal connections highlight Early Childhood dual credit program

March 1, 2023

Emily Patenaude knows what it’s like to be misunderstood as a child; she also understands a thing or two about fighting through adversity. The experience and knowledge will serve the Kelowna high school student well as she looks to begin her post-secondary education. Emily is one of 10 Central Okanagan-area students completing a five-month Okanagan College course in Early Childhood Education while still in high school, known as a dual credit program. Emily’s passion for childcare began early as she watched her brother struggle to connect an...

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Caring for Health Care Students Fund
Health care students in the South Okanagan Similkameen are about to breathe a sigh of relief thanks to a new bursary fund

February 23, 2023

Local philanthropists Yasmin and Rick Thorpe have partnered with Summerland’s Penny Lane Legacy Fund to create a $50,000 bursary fund to help bolster the future of health care in the South Okanagan Similkameen. The Caring for Health Care Students Fund will provide $750 - $1,750 awards for eligible students studying at Okanagan College’s Penticton Campus.  “We know if we educate healthcare professionals in Penticton, there’s a good chance they’ll stay and work in the region,” says Yasmin John Thorpe. “We want to help increase the number of ...

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ECE
OC increases access to early childhood education in the South Okanagan

February 22, 2023

Okanagan College (OC) is opening new spaces for people interested in working in early childhood education, as childcare facilities across the region and British Columbia continue to face staffing challenges. The Early Childhood Education Certificate program starts at OC’s Penticton campus in mid-March and runs through May 2024. The intake will have space for 24 students, adding to the more than 145 Early Childhood Education students studying at Okanagan College in Vernon, Kelowna and Penticton this year. According to the province’s Labour M...

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Joanne Stacey
Acclaimed musician brings Songwriting 101 to OC Salmon Arm and Revelstoke

February 16, 2023

Have you ever had a song that you couldn’t get out of your head? An award-winning local musician is presenting a day-long introduction to the craft and joy of songwriting at Okanagan College in Salmon Arm and Revelstoke. Joanne Stacey has spent most of her life working in the music business as a performer, musician, recording artist, and songwriter. On Feb. 25 in Salmon Arm and again on March 11 in Revelstoke, Stacey will be pouring that lifetime of music industry experience and songwriting expertise into a new course: Songwriting 101. “Th...

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Spaghetti Bridge
OC’s Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest set to return for 38th year this spring

February 13, 2023

Spaghetti is back on the menu at Okanagan College this spring. A fixture on the spring calendar in the Okanagan for nearly four decades, the College’s popular Spaghetti Bridge Building Contest will return this March for the first time since 2020. OC will host the 38th annual contest on Friday, March 3 at the Kelowna campus. Organizers are putting the call out to teachers and students from elementary through post-secondary to participate. Students can enter the following competitions: Elementary School Students: Elementary School Demonstra...

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Student Keith Schmatlz standing in front of his professional truck.
Okanagan resident sharpens skills with Continuing Studies program

February 7, 2023

Vernon resident Keith Schmaltz spent most of his career working in the heavy-duty equipment industry. But after a nearly 40-year career, he decided he wanted to learn some new skills and continue that career in a related field. Enter Okanagan College’s Continuing Studies department, offering programs and courses to suit all different learning needs. Keith enrolled in the Professional Industry Driver program, offered by Okanagan College in collaboration with Taylor Pro Training and BC Forest Safety Council. The program is funded by the Gover...

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Executive Chef Ruth Wigman
Former ‘Top Chef’ takes the reins at Okanagan College’s Infusions restaurant

January 17, 2023

Fans of Canada’s Top Chef will recognize the name of the new Executive Chef at Infusions. Ruth Wigman, whose 20-year career has taken her coast to coast, brings a fresh and exciting perspective to the restaurant at Okanagan College staffed by Culinary Arts students. Wigman, who was a contestant on the Food Network’s Canada’s Top Chef program in 2014, most recently worked as the executive sous-chef at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport for over three years. Before that, she worked at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and the Fairmount Southampton i...

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