2020 will be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a worldwide health crisis that disrupted our lives, but as we look back on 2020 we can also celebrate some of the great things that happened at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Waterfront Campus. Our year in a review captures a few of the highlights.
January 2020: The New Year began with lots of energy and enthusiasm as students returned from the holiday break. We also said goodbye to dozens of graduates who completed their programs in December, including Abhi Gupta of the Outdoor Adventure Naturalist program. A few months later Abhi would deliver our valedictory address at our convocation ceremony from his home country of India.
February 2020: In February we held what has become one of the social highlights of the winter, our annual carnival featuring student-staff hockey games for women and men, some fun outdoor and indoor winter activities and a shared lunch and dinner with students and employees. During this month, more than 30 campus employees also visited the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan reserve to learn more about Indigenous culture, a powerful learning experience as the College continues its Indigenization journey. We also celebrated the opening of a new rock climbing wall in the campus gymnasium.
March 2020: This was the month that everything changed. We had been planning for our March Break Open House with more than 350 people registered to attend when on March 13 the College suspended classes and told its employees and students to work and study from home. In a remarkable accomplishment, our faculty were able to pivot to deliver all course content in a remote delivery format using Zoom technology. The student services team also began offering all of its supports virtually, allowing students to complete their winter term.
April 2020: In April we held our first virtual Speaker Series with Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe answering questions on leadership, coaching and all things hockey. The event was sponsored by the Algonquin College Students’ Association who worked diligently to add many virtual social events to keep students engaged as they studied remotely.
May 2020: In May we kicked off our Spring/Summer Term by continuing to offer programming and services virtually. By this point, a lot of great work had happened to support students including the introduction of a new virtual student learning kit. We also thanked the many healthcare students at our campus who volunteered and found employment on the frontlines of the pandemic. They were true heroes who were risking their own health to support vulnerable patients in health care settings, particularly long term care centres that were hard hit by the virus.
June 2020: The College announced its intentions to deliver the majority of its programs remotely in the Fall 2020 Term as a public safety measure to protect students and employees from the COVID-19 virus. The decision allowed students to better plan their academic journey. It also meant that many out-of-town students were not required to re-locate to Pembroke as they were studying from home, while others who were in programs that had weekly in-person activities did come to Pembroke.
July 2020: Some of our students returned to campus in July to complete the practical skills they required to graduate from their program. With special permission from the province, these pilot programs had built in many safety mitigation policies to protect students and faculty from contracting the coronavirus. Our Forestry students were equipped with a large tent where they could be taught outdoors before making their way into the woods to put their newly learned skills to the test through practical applications. The lessons learned from our forestry faculty allowed other teachers to get creative in how they delivered in-person classes in the Fall Term.
August 2020: The College introduced a new COVID-19 safety course for students and employees who were required to be on campus. A COVID-19 tracking app was also introduced and the College imposed a mandatory face mask policy for anyone who was on campus. The Algonquin College Students’ Association also began celebrating its 50th anniversary.
September 2020: We started a new school year with more than 900 full-time students registered, plus dozens of apprenticeship and Academic Upgrading students. While the majority of our courses were delivered remotely, some face-to-face instruction was provided particularly in our outdoor training programs such as Outdoor Adventure and Environmental Technician. The College also celebrated having its first Kampus Kokum, Annie Parker, who provides insight, support and personal consultation for our Indigenous learners. We were also pleased to acknowledge our Campus Board of Governors representative, Jay McLaren, who with his wife Linda, an alumnus, was awarded the Upper Ottawa Valley Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement award. September also marked the 20th anniversary of the launch of our popular Outdoor Adventure program, and so we looked back on the program’s history with a series of stories about our faculty and alumni.
October 2020: For the first time in the more than 50-year history of Algonquin College, the Pembroke Campus held a virtual convocation ceremony. The ceremony featured video addresses from the College President, the Campus Dean and the campus valedictorian. In October we also held our first Fall Business Leadership Virtual Conference which was attended by almost 90 business leaders from across the region.
November 2020: Student leaders at the Pembroke Campus initiated a Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion forum to advance the college’s social justice work by tackling the issue of racism. Former Ontario Attorney General, Yasir Naqvi, was the keynote speaker at the virtual forum and empowered students by telling them, it was a time to be bold.” Students in our Outdoor Adventure Naturalist also helped complete the three-year Natural Edge Program project in partnership with Watershed Canada and Muskrat Watershed Council by helping to plant the last 15,000 native trees and shrubs on five agricultural sites naturalizing 4,400-metres of shoreline. We also marked Remembrance Day with a virtual ceremony of Remembrance that included some of our employees and students who had military connections.
December 2020: The final month of the year brought unfortunate news that three campus employees and one student had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. This occurred as COVID cases spiked across the province and the country, but there was also some good news during this month as a new approved vaccine started being distributed in Canada.
There is no question that 2020 was a year like none other in the history of Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus, but through it all, we learned of beautiful acts of kindness by our students, alumni and employees. Many of our graduates were working on the frontline of the pandemic, putting their lives at risk to help the most vulnerable people in our society.
When the calendar turns to January we will celebrate the launch of our new Environmental Management and Assessment post-graduate certificate program and another offering of the Personal Support Worker program in collaboration with Bonnechere Manor in Renfrew. We will also launch the first level of the Electrician Apprentice program, following up a very successful Electrician – Construction and Maintenance – Pre-Apprentice offering.
We look forward to 2021 with hopes and dreams that our students, alumni and employees will achieve all of their personal and career goals.
Posted by Jamie Bramburger, Manager of Community and Student Affairs
The College has imposed strict safety guidelines such as the requirement that masks be worn on campus, that all students and employees complete an online health and safety COVID-19 course and that faculty take student attendance. Additional measures such as enhanced cleaning, the removal of furniture to ensure physical distancing and the closure of some common spaces with a shift to more virtual services have also been foundational in the college’s approach to keeping its students and staff safe.
It’s true that most college bound students have their plans in place for this fall, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to 
Options has been recognized by the province of Ontario as an award winning grassroots effort to help the province introduce more youth to apprenticeship training to fill pending or current labour market shortages within many trades.
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