Just prior to the start of fall classes, a fourth year elective class undertook a 12 day sailing experience along the north shore of Lake Superior. Click here to see a video of their experience.

ORPT's fourth year sailing trip was featured in this month's edition of The Walleye. Read the article here.

Congratulations to ORPT alumnus Jackie Chan for receiving a 3M National Student Fellowship.

Read about Jackie and other recipients here.

Details of the Fellowship program can be found at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education website.

The Therapeutic Recreation Summit brings together ORPT students from Lakehead University, Recreation Therapy students from Confederation College and Recreation Therapy professionals in the region to share research findings and industry trends related to nature, adventure and recreation therapy.  The all-day event includes student presentations and workshops with an afternoon of inclusive outdoor activity on Lakehead's beautiful Thunder Bay campus.  Organized by ORPT faculty, staff and the students of Dr. Tom Potter's Therapeutic Recreation and Adventure Therapy class, this event showcases the potential for growth in nature based therapeutic recreation in North Western Ontario.

Have a look at this article on Spencer's career in the outdoor apparel industry. Starting as a part time sales clerk at a local retail store, Spencer is now Vice President of Merchandising and Market Strategy for Canada Goose. The article starts on page 14 (you need to flip through the earlier pages to get there).

http://alumni.lakeheadu.ca/publications/magazine

We are proud of alumnus Darren Lentz for being named one of Canada's top 40 principals. Darren has taught in many schools in Northwestern Ontario before returning to Thunder Bay. His passion for outdoor recreation, education and traditional skills and knowledge help provide students with memorable school experiences.

Read the Lakehead Schools announcement here

Read the Chronical Journal article here.

Read the CBC article here.

The power of student contributions through learning partnerships

During their fourth year in the School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism, Maarit Robitaille (nee McCallum) and Stephanie Cross worked on a class project that had been developed in partnership with the North of Superior Tourism Association (NOSTA). The purpose of their project was to evaluate the effectiveness of NOSTA’s brand by conducting surveys with members of the association and visitors to the region. They made several recommendations for the organization, and presented their report to NOSTA in 2007.  The report was not acted upon until 2016 when Executive Director, Dan Bevilacqua found the report in a filing cabinet and implemented many of its recommendations to create a new brand and name for the organization, unveiled at the organization’s 40th Annual General Meeting, November 2016 (see their new website here https://superiorcountry.ca/ ). Mr. Bevilacqua was grateful to have found the report, as “the work of Maarit and Stephanie was instrumental towards the rebranding of NOSTA. It was their research that determined the future logo and image of the organization. We will forever be thankful for their work as NOSTA moved forward as Superior Country!” For their part, the ORPT grads were thrilled that even after all these years, their work had been helpful to the organization, “it is empowering to know that our work is being utilized to create positive changes for NOSTAs future”. These types of learning partnerships, where students get to work on real projects and community organizations are able to pursue projects through student participation, are absolute win-win opportunities for both parties.



 

 

 

Aric Fishman, graduate of the Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism program and Lakehead University, is a local climber, guide, business owner and now author who has put 3 years into creating a comprehensive guide book for the area.  Aric moved to Northwestern Ontario for school 10 years ago and fell in love with the area, and has since found ways to turn his passion for climbing into a career.

Here's a link to the book.

Sarah Hueniken (HBOR '97) is currently featured in the alumni magazine Journey (page 8). Read about what she has been up to since graduation, including here winter climb of Niagara Falls here.

Read about the career of ORPT alumnus Captain Jill Marrack – the Deputy Commander of Canada's Naval Reserve. Jill was honoured by the Women's Executive Network (WXN) as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women for her achievements as a public sector leader. Read the article here