OC Life
Celebrating 60: Welcome to the 2023/24 academic year at OC
September 5, 2023
A message from AV President, Dr. Neil Fassina: For many people, this week marks the start of a new chapter. The first day of classes, a return to school, those initial moments where you check out the textbooks, syllabus, and materials of a new course – the energy on campus this time of year is electric and exciting. This year is all the more special for OC, because we’re celebrating sixty years since the opening of the B.C. Vocational Institute in Kelowna and the College’s growth through the region in the decades that...
Read more...
AV hosts You @ OC Event to showcase programs and services
June 13, 2023
With summer approaching and many people making their college or university plans for the fall, AV is extending an invitation to the community to explore the many opportunities available at OC. Applicants, admitted students, parents and anyone interested in learning more about programs and life at OC are invited to attend You@OC on Tuesday, June 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the College’s Vernon campus. During the event, application fees for all programs will be waived. You@OC is an opportunity to explore various program ...
Read more...
AV professor and artist receives Tanabe Prize
April 25, 2023
AV communications professor and artist Amy Modahl has been announced as a winner of this year's Tanabe Prize, alongside artist Robin Hodgson. The two artists, based in the B.C. Interior, will each receive $15,000 in recognition of their exceptional creativity and promise of future achievements. Modahl expressed her excitement and gratitude for receiving the prestigious award, stating, "I'm so honored to have been chosen to receive this award that will support my work as an artist, especially because I also received a Canada...
Read more...
OC profs to share their talents at Valley Voices
April 24, 2023
The following media release is shared on behalf of Valley Voices: Valley Voices to Echo Again in Vernon Published authors to participate in next Valley Voices reading series with a celebration of stories and a book launch at the Bean Scene coffee house May 10. VERNON– As witnessed by the recent packed house upstairs at Vernon’s Bean Scene coffee house, the word is out about a new reading series in the Okanagan. Valley Voices launched in Vernon April 19 during National Poetry Month with an enthusiastic crowd listening to award-wi...
Read more...
New AV student housing, childcare centre on target to open in 2024 in Vernon
April 21, 2023
When she decided to attend AV, student-parent Sarina Parsons was faced with the challenge of finding childcare while balancing her course schedule. She says it added stress at a time where she wished she could have been more focused on her learning. In just over a year, students like Sarina will have access to childcare and on-campus living options at AV’s Vernon campus, when doors open at a new mass-timber student housing building currently under construction. The 100-bed student housing project and Sunflo...
Read more...
New AV student housing centre on target to open in 2024 in Salmon Arm
April 21, 2023
Finding affordable housing isn’t just a challenge in the big city – it can be difficult in smaller, more rural communities as well. For students like Dylan Taylor, who are also focused on completing post-secondary education and entering the workforce, access to housing is transformational. “There are many pressures on students already right now, so having a way to access a place to live on-campus takes away a huge amount of stress and makes it possible to focus on my education,” says Taylor, an Arts student at the Salmon Arm c...
Read more...
OC English professor’s book on Dickens receives critical acclaim
April 12, 2023
When it comes to studying at AV, you never know when class discussion will spark ground-breaking academic work. OC English Professor Terry Scarborough is pausing these days to enjoy the accolades from a high-profile review of his book, Bite the Hand that Reads: Dickens, Animals and Sanitary Reform, a concept that sprung from classroom discussion in English 231: Studies in Popular Narrative. He regularly attends the Victorian Popular Fiction Association’s conference at the University of London and decided to explore the topic...
Read more...
Food for Thought: AV’s applied research expo unites innovators across timely topics
April 11, 2023
Are you hungry for knowledge and innovation in the field of applied research? Do you want to learn from experts and peers who are tackling some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in our society? If so, you won’t want to miss the 7th annual AV Research Innovation Partnerships Expo, or ‘RIPE’, on May 2. RIPE, hosted by OC’s Learning and Applied Research department, is a free virtual event for community members, industry, educators, researchers and students to network and learn about the impact of applied research...
Read more...
Post-secondary partners to unite early childhood education faculty, policy groups, and others from across Canada to discuss outdoor pedagogy in college ECE programs
April 5, 2023
How does playing outdoors support children’s development and wellness? Why is outdoor play such a powerful conduit for learning? How can we advance curriculum in college programs to empower current and future early childhood educators (ECEs) to view outdoor play as an important part of the children’s day, in all kinds of weather? How are colleges integrating and advancing outdoor pedagogy in their ECE programs? These and other questions will be explored during a unique virtual conference next month that will bring together early childhood...
Read more...
Inspire at OC Revelstoke: Volunteer to Tutor
April 4, 2023
One of the ongoing programs the Revelstoke Centre of AV 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...
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 AV? 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...
OC professor and national award-winning writer launches new book
April 3, 2023
Short doesn’t necessarily mean sweet – especially if it is unpacking the messy experiences of the human body. AV Professor Corinna Chong explores the good, bad and unseemly in The Whole Animal, a short story collection published by Arsenal Pulp Press that will be celebrated during an official book launch on April 13. Throughout The Whole Animal, flawed characters wrestle with the complexities of relationships with partners, parents, children and friends as they struggle to find identity, belonging and autonomy. Bodies are d...
Read more...
OC Foundation chair’s book launch supports students in need
March 27, 2023
Honouring the past and supporting the future: Connie Denesiuk’s new book has ambitious goals. The Chair of the AV Foundation Board is launching a book next month about a story close to her heart, with the hope it will benefit the community around her. ‘Til Papa Returns; Surviving as a child refugee in WWII is the true story of Alfred Columbus, the youngest of eight children and father to Denesiuk. Alfred was learning how to farm the land their family had worked for more than 200 years, following advice and guidance from h...
Read more...
New OC Art Club blends creative pursuits with friends
March 10, 2023
Do you dabble with drawings? Unwind with watercolours? Play with paint? Sketch out the world around you? Or are you just curious about creative expression and want to meet new people? A grassroots movement has started an Art Club at the Kelowna campus, giving OC students and staff a blank canvas to have fun. Thi Tuong An Huynh, Greta Friesen, Ryan Rubadeau and Hannah Knox are founding student members of the club, which is sponsored by Business professor Devin Rubadeau and Communications ...
Read more...
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 AV, 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...
Read more...
OC’s Red Dot Players present The Beast of Blackthorn Manor
March 1, 2023
Spring may be in like a lion out like a lamb, but a different beast is on the prowl at AV this month, courtesy of OC’s theatre troupe. The Red Dot Players are excited to present the premiere production of The Beast of Blackthorn Manor, a new comedy by AV English professor Jeremy Beaulne. The plot promises to delight fans of gothic literature and those new to the genre: When she accepts a position at Blackthorn Manor, an isolated manor house in the Yorkshire moors, governess Charlotte Vole has no idea that she ...
Read more...