Running from April 22 to June 4, the Career College Challenge was OACC’s first ever contest for career college students and graduates. The contest encouraged entrants to get creative in explaining why career education was the best fit for them. Well, OACC was happy to receive 28 posters and 11 videos – and a diverse showing of different ideas. Check out a variety of entries below. View all contest entries at OACC’s website.

Winning Poster: Your Future, Your Choice by Sarah Alty of Herzing College

Winning Video – Olunama Presents OACC, by Oscar Luna Martinez, Graduate of RCC Institute of Technology

Learning is Ultimately a Personal Journey, By Kim Morrison of triOS College

To Do List, by Katherine Ker of Herzing College

I Can, by Steve Valentim of Herzing College

The Future Is In Your Hands, By Amethea Cyr of Everest College

Why a Career College by Laura Adlard of Robetech Institute

Be Ahead, by Anna Kazakevitch

Choose the Best, By Diane Brisson of CTS Canadian Career College

VIDEOS

Though it has been in the works for several months, the Ontario Association of Career Colleges is happy to share our latest newsletter with members. The 411: A Guide to Career Colleges in Ontario is designed specifically for high school students and guidance counsellors.

OACC sent out the first edition of the 411 today via email to almost 1,000 guidance counsellors across the province. The information-packed newsletter will be issued on a quarterly basis. It is intended to inform students and counsellors about the career college sector. The May 2010 edition contains facts about career colleges in Ontario and a guideline on how to choose a career college. Click here to read the 411.

Career colleges were featured in a special section in Sunday’s Toronto Sun. The supplement touched on the how career colleges prepare students to enter the work force sooner by allowing them to earn a diploma in an average of 12 months or less. The piece also highlighted the convenience factor – modular training allows career colleges to have start dates throughout the year. The reporter interviewed George Hood, OACC Vice President and President of Herzing College, and Don Thibert, OACC Past President and Director of Academic Affairs for Everest College. Wendy Callaghan, Regional Director of Career Services at triOS, also provided insight for the piece. The Sun also published an array of student profiles – from Herzing College, triOS College, Medix School and Everest College. Click here to read the “Your Future, Your Choice” section online.

Career colleges were featured in the Toronto Sun’s jobboom section yesterday. After years of working in business, Dianne Day needed a change. She graduated from the Salon + Spa Career College in Toronto and opened her own business in esthetics.  Day is not alone – according to a recent Statistics Canada report, more than 100,000 people joined the ranks of the self employed between October 2008 and October 2009. To read more, check out the article by clicking here.

The Ontario Association of Career Colleges is very excited to launch this cool contest for career college students and graduates. Create a poster or 30-second video explaining why you chose a career college, what you learned while attending or the benefits of career college education for a chance to win $500 in cash! Upload your entry online at www.oacc.ca/contest until May 22 and vote for your favourite entries! Entries with the most votes will be the finalists – and one poster and one video will be chosen by an OACC committee to win $500.

Show us your talent! Get creative! Career college students do amazing work and we want to show it off! Get thinking.. visit www.oacc.ca/contest for more details.