OCEA Chair’s Message
2024-2025
OCEA Chair’s Message 2024-2025
Hello from the Ontario Cooperative Education Association (OCEA)!
I am honoured to serve a second term as OCEA Chair for the 2024-2025 school year.
OCEA is an organization which strives to provide leadership and vision for the optimal professional development of its members, has been at the forefront of Cooperative Education and all other forms of Experiential Learning since 1976. Our voices remain stronger and clearer when united and represented by this provincial association!
Currently, I’d like to invite you to renew or apply for an OCEA membership and to also invite each member of your Cooperative Education, OYAP and all other forms of Experiential Learning departments to do so as well.
Membership in this vital subject-based association is valuable in contributing to your professional development. A yearly OCEA Membership provides the following benefits:
1. Ability to register for the Fall Symposium and / or the Spring Conference at reduced rates to network with Cooperative Education, OYAP and all other forms of Experiential Learning teachers / educators across the province to share ideas, resources and initiatives.
2. Full access to our website’s Members Resources Only section which provides collaborative sharing curriculum documents, current and past symposium and conference presentations (offered as recordings and / or PDF files) and OCEA resources such as: Designing for Success, Ethical Guidelines & Legal Issues, and OCEA’s NEWest resource titled “Pre-placement Lesson Plans for Cooperative Education 2023©”.
3. Obtaining the “OCEA Student Certificate of Achievement” to promote Cooperative Education and / or Experiential Learning in your school (downloadable/fillable PDF) to present to worthy recipients.
4. Ability to nominate outstanding practitioners and colleagues for an OCEA Award (The George King Award of Excellence or The S.J. (Jack) Ulan Professional Contribution Award).
5. Voting privileges for statutory members at our Annual Business Meeting (ABM).
6. Serving your vital subject-based association as an OCEA Provincial Representative, or as a Director on the OCEA Board.
OCEA continues to be committed to professional development. We have two events planned for the 2024-2025 school year. The first being the 2024 Virtual OCEA Fall Symposium, with a theme of “Collaborate - Integrate – Innovate!”, that will be held virtually (via ZOOM) on November 7, 2024.
The 2025 OCEA Spring Conference will take place on April 27th-28th-29th, 2025 at the Sheraton and Best Western Parkway Toronto North Hotel, 600 Highway 7, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B2. OCEA continues to provide these learning opportunities, to its members and colleagues, as we unite to provide a variety of Cooperative Education and OYAP experiences for all students.
We invite you to stay informed with OCEA via our social media accounts:
https://www.instagram.com/ocea_aeco/
https://twitter.com/OCEA_AECO
https://www.facebook.com/OCEA.AECO/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ocea-aeco/
Please feel free to contact me or any member of the OCEA Board of Directors or Provincial Representatives (https://ocea.on.ca/contact-us/) with any comments or input that will aid us in continuing to best serve our members.
Have a great 2024-2025 school year!
Sincerely yours in Cooperative Education,
Pasquale (Pat) Piro
OCEA Chair 2024-2025
Cooperative Education Teacher
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic DSB