Our Ottawa Catholic School Board community congratulates and celebrates all of our adult learners who graduated this year. Your dedication, perseverance, and hard work have brought you to this incredible achievement, and your commitment to lifelong learning inspires us all. We wish you much success in your bright future!
Students participate in their very own Dragon’s Den
At the end of June, we celebrated our first class of graduates in the Adult ESL for Entrepreneurs – CLB 3-4 course, one of our OCSB Continuing & Community Education programs. Prior to graduating, the small class of seven students participated in their own “Dragon’s Den” where they presented their business plans to three panellists who provided advice and suggestions to each presenter. Topics included ethnic clothing, restaurants, smart warehousing, construction, cleaning, and agriculture. The panellists were:
- Emma Inns, Entrepreneur & Owner of Adorit Boutique and Officer & Facilitator at Ottawa Community Loan Fund (OCLF)
- Marianne Kayed, Manager of OCSB Continuing & Community Education
- Zbigniew Wodkowski, ESL Coordinator, St Patrick’s Adult School
Throughout the course, students worked on their business goals with OCSB ESL Instructor Firoozeh Chalabian. Once a week, they met with Subject Matter Expert Emma Inns from OCLF and several guest speakers. The course focused on improving communication skills, an introduction to key information for business start-ups in Canada, and business planning. This pilot was innovative and unique in that the curriculum was adapted for learners who were building their basic English communication skills. The class included asylum seekers and other newcomers to Ottawa.
We thank the Government of Ontario for its funding and support to help newcomers and asylum seekers improve their English while fast-tracking them to their dreams of success in Canada.
Recognizing graduates of St. Nicholas Adult High School
We are celebrating 231 graduates at St. Nicholas Adult High School this year! To mark the occasion, a graduation ceremony was held at Meridian Theatres, which included speeches by Mark Mullan – OCSB Chairperson, Luka Luketic-Buyers – OCSB Board Trustee, Ben Vallati – OCSB Superintendent of Continuing & Community Education, and Thiago Coelho Reis – St. Nicholas Adult High School’s 2024 Valedictorian. Master of Ceremonies for the event were Tammy Coyle – St. Nicholas Guidance Lead Teacher and Anne-Marie Pinel – St. Nicholas Guidance Teacher. Certificates and acknowledgements were presented by Don Murphy – Principal of St. Nicholas Adult High School.
St. Nicholas Principal’s Award Winner
Every year, a student at St. Nicholas Adult High School is selected to receive the prestigious Principal’s Award and the winner is announced during the graduation ceremony. The requirements for the award are as follows:
- graduating student who has overcome great adversity to achieve an Ontario Secondary School Diploma
- attended St. Nicholas Adult High School for at least one year
- completed a minimum of 4 credits at St. Nicholas Adult High School
- pursuing post-secondary education
We proudly share that Jessica Bower won this year’s St. Nicholas Principal’s Award! Jessica shared that winning this award meant a lot to her: “It made me feel extremely proud and confident in my abilities.”
Jessica has shown incredible resiliency and determination throughout her education journey. After stepping away from high school in Grade 8, Jessica decided that it was now time to return to her studies and pursue the career she has always wanted. She credits her motivation to her two children who she wants to be a positive influence for, showing them that you can do anything you put your mind to. Jessica has been accepted into the Police Foundations program at Algonquin College and is looking forward to making a difference in the community.
Learn more about our Adult Programs offered by OCSB Continuing & Community Education
