Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2022
The cover of Ollie’s Telescope which showcases Blanchard’s beautiful illustrations.
Writing and illustrating a children’s book was never a fated endeavor for Samantha Smadella and Kaitlyn Blanchard but when they stumbled upon a story that needed to be told, the pair immediately put pen to paper to take on the challenge.
Smadella and Blanchard are both students of the Therapeutic Recreation program, a healthcare profession that deals with five domains of recreation and leisure: physical, emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual. Smadella explains that recreation therapy takes shape in a variety of ways in different spaces — from children’s palliative care to long-term care for the elderly.
“Therapeutic recreation helps provide meaning to peoples’ lives,” says Smadella. “It touches on all the things that make us human outside of the menial day to day tasks.”
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Posted on Monday, July 4th, 2022
Looking to celebrate a special occasion in the nation’s capital? Look no further! Algonquin College’s very own chef Tanya Skeates will be serving up a delicious farm-to-table feast as part of the Chef’s Table event held at the National Arts Centre (NAC) from Aug. 18 to Sept. 10.
Chef Tanya Skeates poses for a photo in her chef whites.
Presented by the Festival of Small Halls, the event will offer a romantic canal-side experience with live musical entertainment and, most importantly, the thoughtfully curated three-course menus of five of Canada’s very best culinary minds.
Skeates has been fostering the creative artistry of budding chefs at the College for almost five years now and, when she’s not busy sharing her culinary expertise, she can be found dreaming up new culinary experiences of her own. However, it wasn’t the creative expression that drew her to a career in the kitchen but her wanderlust for travel.
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Posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2022
“Pryvit i laskavo prosymo do Algonquin College” (hello and welcome to Algonquin College) may be a
phrase you overhear if you are walking near the Spiritual Centre on Tuesday or Thursday afternoons. On those days, a group of over 120 recently arrived Ukrainians meet to learn English, with the help of a group of current and retired faculty and volunteers.
“We started with 20 people and it turned into hundreds of families calling me and writing asking for help,” said Yuriy Derkach, a professor of mechanical engineering and chaplain at the campus Spiritual Centre. Derkach also works for Student Support Services (SSS) and has been working with Ukrainian students and their families. He said that after arriving in Canada, the first request from refugees was to learn how to speak English. Read more >
