Excellence in studies and commitment to the environment
Toyota Scholarship is awarded to students who have maintained excellence in their studies, demonstrated commitment to and involvement in community environmental issues through participation in volunteer and extracurricular activities, and shown outstanding potential as environmental leaders.

An ability to reach students
Richard Dugas, Vanier’s Sustainability Officer, is unreserved in his praise of Jenny’s undeniable impact on the sustainability campaign at Vanier and her ability to reach other students.  “Her dedication and work ethic are anything but ordinary,” says Richard.  “Jenny works very hard behind the scenes to make sure that work is complete and done right. She has a rare level of professionalism for someone her age. The outcome of her work is predictable: her communication is complete and her work thorough, careful and always in good taste.”

 Creativity and imagination
“Jenny’s strongest asset is her creativity. She quickly sizes up situations and can make sense of complex information and can suggest creative approaches to problems. Jenny is a great person to have in any brainstorming or planning session as she can have both the far flung ideas necessary to spark imaginations and the common sense and maturity to realize her own ideas may not be the right ones.”

Presentations, kiosks, clean-up crew
Jenny has done much to encourage sustainability at Vanier.  She made presentations in classes where she put on skits about sustainability and recycling. As well, Jenny organized picture animation in the cafeteria to get students talking about their link to sustainability and consumerism.  During Water Week, Jenny helped run an information kiosk and was a panelist in the debate: “Let’s talk about energy”. During various campus events Jenny has worked on the cleaning crew, and last year, used hidden theatre to urge students to clean up after themselves in the cafeteria during the trash campaign in the student mall.

Jenny is always ready to do her part
“Because of her professionalism,” concludes Richard Dugas, “I readily put my trust in Jenny and have never been disappointed. Jenny steps up to the plate: she is not afraid to speak her mind and can form a precise and clear answer to questions put before her.”

Jenny Kuan wins 2013 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship winner News release

Yao Wang was only ten years old when she started composing music.  That’s fairly unusual in itself, but even more surprising is that nine years later she has composed “Whisper”, a full length original musical that she and fellow Vanier music students will present publicly April 26 to 28, 2013. 

A Musical about young people, by young people, for young people
Based on the themes of love, friendship, disappointment, homosexuality, parental conflicts, drugs and depression, “Whisper” follows the lives, loves and problems of students in a performing arts school. 

Professional Music and Song Techniques gave her the tools
As a third year student in the Vanier College Professional Music and Song Techniques program, Yao certainly has acquired the skills and knowledge needed to compose and arrange a large scale work. 

Playing with styles
Inspired in part by the television program “Glee”, Yao decided she could have fun with musical explorations in “Whisper” by using many different styles of music, such as classical, popular and jazz, depending on the scene, to tell the story and convey emotions.  “We are also trying to pay tribute to former Broadway musicals such as Chicago, Grease, Singing in the Rain, and Phantom of the Opera,” says Yao.

A unique opportunity for music students
More than 50 Vanier music students worked on the production, which has given them a unique opportunity to do something original whether as a member of the cast or of the accompanying orchestra.

This work can go places
Vanier Classical voice teacher Tamara Vickerd who has mentored the students, is enthusiastic in her praise.  “The quality of the music is phenomenal,” she says.  “It’s hard to believe one person wrote it all, let alone a 19-year old.  It’s filled with earworms, that’s when a song sticks in your head or nestles in your ear.  This is the type of work that could go elsewhere.”

Don’t miss it April 26-28 at Vanier College
“Whisper” will be presented in the Vanier Auditorium (A-103) on April 26 and 27 at 7:30 pm and on Sunday, April 28 at 1:30 pm.

Whisper news release v2

Whisper News release FR

Mark your calendar for the 15^th Annual Big Band Benefit Concert with the Vanier College Big Band conducted by Jocelyn Couture and the professional J.L. Big Band directed by Christopher Smith.  The date is April 15 at 7:30 pm.

Stars: Host Oliver Jones, singer Ranee Lee, saxophonist Chet Doxas
Oliver Jones returns as host for the 11^th year and he will perform a solo as well as a duet with Ranee Lee. Another guest artist is saxophonist Chet Doxas who will join the J.L. Big Band in a couple of pieces.

Student Sarah Rossi
Music student Sarah Rossi, who won this year’s Meg Sircom Memorial Scholarship for her short story based on Robert F. Jones’ memorial service, will be the featured singer with the Vanier College Big Band.

Vanier College Big Band wins gold standard of performance at the JazzFest des Jeunes du Québec
Recently, the Vanier College Big Band was awarded a gold standard of performance at the JazzFest des Jeunes du Québec.   This gold standard award is necessary in order to be eligible to be chosen to play at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, something that the Vanier College Big Band has done several times in the past.

Honouring Jim West
Every year, the Big Band Benefit Concert honours a person who has contributed significantly to the music community.  This year’s event is dedicated to Jim West, President of Justin Time Records.  “It’s quite fitting that we honour Jim West,” says Nadia Turbide, Coordinator of the Music Department.  

“Not only is Jim an important figure in Canadian music, but as well, since the early years of this benefit concert, he has supported our event by donating CDs as door prizes and gifts.  Furthermore, he has also given workshops in the Vanier Audio Recording Technology AEC Program, and since 2008, supports a $100 Justin Time Scholarship that is awarded every year to the most promising jazz student in the Music Department.”  

Testimonials will be given by Dr. Trevor W. Payne, Oliver Jones, and Ranee Lee who were his first three recording artists

The Big Band Benefit Concert supports Music Department Scholarships.  The concert will take place on April 15^th at 7:30pm in the Vanier Auditorium.

Tickets (General admission $20, students/seniors $10) can be purchased at the Bookstore or at the door on the night of the concert.

Big Band Benefit Concert 2013

Big Band Benefit Concert 2013 FR

The theme to this year’s Symposium is Change:  One Person Makes a Difference! and aims to empower students to overcome personal difficulties and to acquire the requisite confidence and sense of commitment with which to promote social change.  Our speakers include Barbara Coloroso, an international bestselling author and for the past 38 years, a speaker and consultant on parenting, teaching, school discipline, positive school climate, bullying, grieving, nonviolent conflict resolution, and restorative justice. Barbara’s latest book is Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide…and Why it Matters.

Dr. Catherine Chatterley is a respected historian of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust who founded the Canadian Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism (CISA). Dr. Chatterley’s first book, Disenchantment: George Steiner and the Meaning of Western Civilization after Auschwitz, was a 2011 National Jewish Book Award Finalist.

Anne Lagacé-Dowson is the director of the former Tolerance Foundation. The Foundation changed its name to ENSEMBLE to better reflect its promotion of diversity. The name, ENSEMBLE was selected because it is believed that as a society, we should strive for something more than tolerance.

Andreas Schnitzer was born near Klagenfurt, Austria. While living in Vienna, Andreas chose to serve in Holocaust Memorial Service activities as an alternative to compulsory Austrian military service. Andreas will present a unique multi-media educational program, Moral Responsibility: Witnesses for the Future. The Shoah and the Armenian and Rwandan genocides are used as paradigms to address the contemporary need to oppose the worldwide threat engendered by ignorance, indifference, discrimination, racism, and moral cowardice.

Other guest speakers will address a variety of issues.  Corrie Sirota MSW, PSW, is a Clinical Social Worker in private practice, who has helped numerous schools and organizations address the issue of bullying.  Steven Slimovitch, LL.B., is a Montreal based attorney who provides legal counsel to individuals and corporations in the areas of criminal, penal, and Charter of Rights litigation.  Sid Stevens’ dedication to young people and Montrealers in need is well known. He is the founder and driving force of Sun Youth.  Jacky Vallée teaches anthropology and methodology at Vanier College. He is also working on a PhD in anthropology at the Université de Montréal. His personal and professional interests include aboriginal rights in Canada, LGBT2QIA (lesbian / gay / bisexual/ transgender / Two-Spirit / queer / intersex / asexual) rights and autism awareness.

All presentations are open to the public without charge. Check the schedule for details.

20th Annual Holocaust Symposium 2013 News release FINAL

20th Annual Holocaust Symposium 2013 News release FINAL FR

It was two determined, imaginative, prepared, and confident Vanier teams that tackled business cases at the annual Dawson Case Competition, held on March 23, 2013. 

Gold for the Vanier Finance team
Their preparedness paid off when Accounting Management Technology students, Camilo Lara-Menendez, Mark Anthony Nowrang and Jonathan Yoon placed first and won Gold at the Finance Case Competition against 11 other cegeps. This is the third time Vanier has finished in the money in the Finance Case Competition. Anna Schiavi, Accounting teacher continues her successful coaching ways in this competition.

A winning Marketing team
Congratulations are also in order for Business Management (Marketing) students Mark Clarizio, Chrissy Cummings-Taylor, Samantha Hughes, and Melissa Piro who placed third in the Marketing Case Competition against 12 other cegep teams, and won Bronze.  A tip of the hat goes to their coaches David Moscovitz and Jessica Andrews.

Strong basics pay off
“I am so proud of our students,” says indicates Anna Schiavi, Accounting teacher and coach of the Vanier Finance team. “They gave a professional presentation and enjoyed themselves doing it.  They had the content and the presentation skills.  People think accounting is boring and that it’s just about numbers.  But we give our students a solid grounding so our team could talk accounting to the audience.”

The challenge in a finance competition
In a finance case competition, students have three hours to analyze the annual report of a company.  They must then make a presentation before a panel of judges, in which they analyze the company’s performance, project future possibilities and make recommendations for the future to the company’s stakeholders.

Dedicated teachers and hardworking students
David Moscovitz, Business Administration Coordinator and coach of the Vanier Marketing team was delighted with the Vanier teams.  “I’m proud of our students and of the teachers who prepared them for this competition.  Their dedication and hard work definitely helped our students succeed.  The results of our teams clearly show how good our Business Administration program is. Bravo to all!”

Dawson Case Competition 2013

Dawson Case Competition 2013 FR

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La Semaine de la francophonie au cégep Vanier aura lieu du 25 au 28 mars 2013. S’inscrivant à la fois dans une perspective interculturelle et une perspective internationale, la Semaine de la francophonie se veut un moment pour valoriser la langue française et pour promouvoir les cultures francophones auprès de la population du cégep Vanier et du grand public.

Cette semaine se veut d’abord un moment privilégié pour tous les étudiants qui ne vivent pas intensément la culture francophone dans leur réalité sociale, en dehors du milieu scolaire.

Diverses activités culturelles et éducatives
Cette semaine se veut aussi l’occasion pour tous d’acquérir des connaissances sur la francophonie, de développer un sentiment d’appartenance à l’espace francophone mondial et de comprendre le rôle que joue la culture francophone dans leur identité, aussi multiple soit elle. Les diverses manifestations culturelles et éducatives qui meublent les quatre journées de la Semaine de la francophonie sont variées, authentiques et colorées : conférences, documentaires, concours d’écriture et de lecture, performances d’artistes et débats étudiants oratoires.

Conférenciers et artistes invités
Parmi les conférenciers présents, notons la présence de Jean-François Lisée, ministre des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur; Gérard Bouchard, historien et sociologue; Samuel Archibald, écrivain; et Yanick Létourneau, cinéaste. Soulignons également un événement culturel hors du commun : Fabrice Koffy, slameur connu de la scène montréalaise, accompagné à la guitare de Guillaume Soucy, fera voyager les étudiants grâce à merveilleux mariage de poésie urbaine, parfois déclamée, parfois chuchotée, parfois chantée. Rappelons finalement le concours mondial d’écriture «Dis-moi dix mots», auquel toute la communauté du collège est invitée à participer.

Pour la programmation complète :

http://www.fls-collegial.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/programmation_semaindelafrancophonie2013.swf

La Semaine de la francophonie 2013 FR

This is the fourteenth year MusicFest Québec takes place at Vanier, which is uniquely equipped for presenting simultaneous performances of symphony orchestras, string orchestras, concert bands, choirs and classical guitar ensembles.

Highlight of the year for music students
MusicFest is the highlight of the year for many music students in Québec.  It’s the chance to come to Montreal and perform their music before élite adjudicators consisting of well-known orchestra and band conductors, choir directors, instrumentalists, teachers and recording artists.  Vanier teacher and choir director, Philippe Bourque, has been invited to judge the choirs for a third consecutive year.

120 groups from all over Quebec
In all 120 ensembles will participate in this year’s event.  Locally, seven English regional high schools, including John Rennie, Westwood, FACE and Marymount, will bring a total of 12 ensembles to the festival.  Other ensembles will travel from such cities as Gatineau, Mont-Tremblant, Lévis and Cowansville.

A unique competition
Generally each musical group performs a maximum of three pieces in front of two adjudicators and is evaluated according to the quality of their performance and the given criteria in the evaluation form. While each group performs, the adjudicators who are equipped with microphones record comments on the performance as it takes place. Subsequently, each school receives a CD of the annotated performances of its students. As well, after the performance one of the evaluators meets with each group in a workshop and works with them on the technique and interpretation of their performance.  At the end of the process the jury attributes the performing group with one of the following mentions: Gold, Silver, or Bronze, and the musical director of the group receives a certificate attesting the mention obtained.

A large exhibition room where students can gather to try out different musical instruments and buy music scores and CDs is always an interesting feature for everyone.

Open to the public
MusicFest Québec is open to the public.  Performances take place in the Vanier Auditorium (A-103) and Room (A-250) and run every day from 9 am to 5pm, except the first day when performances begin at 10 am.  Check the MusicFest schedule for details of daily performances.

Music Fest Quebec 2013

Music Fest Quebec 2013 FR

The annual Hydro-Québec Montreal Regional Science & Technology Fair  will take place Sunday, March 17  through Tuesday March 19 at the  Vanier College Sports Complex (

Vanier graduate and past winner Rami Sayar to speak at Opening Ceremony
Visit Vanier College to take part in this annual event. Members of the public can discuss with exhibitors the main concerns of this up-and-coming generation of scientists.  Rami Sayar, Vanier graduate and winner of the 2009 Science Fair who went on to represent Canada at the MILSET International Science Fair in Tunisia, will be the keynote speaker at opening ceremonies on Sunday, March 17 at 11:30am in the Auditorium adjacent to the Sports Complex.  There is no admission charge.

Public opening hours

Sunday, March 17, from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.                                                                      

Monday, March 18, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tuesday, March 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Awards ceremony – Tuesday, March 19, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (open to the public)

Hydro Québec key partner
As a partner of the event for over a decade, Hydro-Québec is proud to support the 15,000 students who, every year, take part in one of the Hydro-Québec Science Fair Regional Finals, paving the way for a promising generation of scientific minds. Many things have changed since the first edition of the competition, but one thing remains the same: the pride and the sparkle in the eyes of the youth you will meet at these events.” said Hydro-Québec Science Fair Honorary Chairwoman, Marie-José Nadeau, Executive Vice President – Corporate Affairs and Secretary General, Hydro-Québec

Numerous prizes
Visitors to the 2013 Hydro-Québec Science Fair regional finals will be eligible for numerous door prizes by taking part in La Course aux génies, a contest organized by Hydro-Québec that aims to encourage the public to visit many exhibitors.

Exhibitors at the regional final are competing for awards with a total value of $ 45 000. In addition, 12 projects will be selected to represent Montreal Regional Science & Technology Fair at the 2013 Super Expo-sciences Hydro-Québec, Québec final, to be held April 18 to 21, 2013 in the Ville de Saguenay. The Québec final is also a springboard for participating in the Canada-Wide and International Science Fairs.

Valued partners
The Hydro-Québec Science Fairs are made possible with support from presenting partner Hydro Québec, as well as major financial partners including Bell, the Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche, de la Science et de la Technologie, as well as Merck Canada, which has supported the Science Fair’s Experimentation type of projects for more than 20 years.

Many regional partners in the Montreal region also contributed to making the regional final successful: (Mc Gill University, Concordia University).

This regional event involves approximately 300 students from 39 schools and is expected to attract over 3,000 visitors over these exciting three days.  “The Montreal Regional Science and Technology Fair has inspired thousands of young people over the years,” says Stephen Newbigging, Vanier Science Coordinator and Chair of the Organizing Committee “It offers students a unique opportunity to showcase their achievement which can motivate them to further their pursuit of scientific education.”

About Educational Alliance for Science & Technology
The Educational Alliance for Science & Technology (EAST) is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization serving Quebec students in extracurricular science & technology activities. Founded to take charge of the Montreal Regional Science and Technology Fair (MRSTF), it also organizes the CRC Robotics Competition, Junior Robotics Competition, and the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (Quebec affiliation).

- 30 –

The Hydro-Québec Science Fair is one-of-a-kind competition in which more than 15,000 young Québecers take part every year, presenting projects in three categories: Experimentation, Design and Study. The projects cover a wide variety of fields, including environment, engineering, chemistry, physics, health sciences and more! In Québec, the CDLS-CLS Network partners are the project managers of the Science Fair movement.

Science fair 2013 News release FINAL

Science Fair 2013 News release FR

For the third consecutive year, Vanier College is holding Science Week, an inside look at the latest in biology, medicine, and physics.  Running from March 11 to 15, 2013, Science Week features talks, debates, demonstrations and events promoting Science at Vanier College.

New drugs and Big Bang mysteries
On Monday morning, March 11, Dr. Terry Hébert, from Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University, will launch the festival with his talk What can you do to discover new drugs? – a look at the challenge of finding new drugs. Next,  Next, Dr. Sangyong Jeon, from Physics at McGill University, will take us into the small and surprising world of subatomic particles and the long-sought after Quark Gluon Plasma with his talk entitled Hottest ever since the Big Bang.

Codes and secrets
Tuesday afternoon, in Public Key Cryptography, Vanier Mathematics teacher, Stephen Newbigging, will show how secret codes are not just for spies when he explores the need for encrypting data and looks at one of the most common encryption algorithms, the RSA encryption.

Cats, birds and song
Jump into the fray on Wednesday, March 13^th at noon with a panel debate: Kill the cats that killed the birds? Hear about the ornithologist taken to court because he killed feral cats that were eating endangered species of birds. Then don’t miss the Science Coffeehouse when science students and faculty showcase their musical and artistic talents.

Prove it, Pi-Day and Machine Man
On Thursday, March 14^th at 10 am, Vanier Math teacher Julie Plante, will present Logic may not always tell all the truth Or The evolution of Logic from Russell to Gödel. At noon, it’s time to celebrate Pi-Day with Pi-reciting and Pie-eating contests. Then at 2:30 pm, Vanier Physics teacher, Stephen Cohen, will explore the frontiers of robotics, genetics, and bio-mechanical engineering, and examine where our species may be headed with his talk Robo Sapiens.

Science on tourne!
Finally on Friday, March 15^th, from 1 pm until 4:30 pm it’s time for Science, on tourne! Check out budding Vanier engineers who will show off their designs and put their cranes to the test when they meet this year’s challenge of building a crane capable of lifting a weight from the floor using mechanical potential energy.

Check out the full Science Week 2013 program for details and locations of all events.  Open to the public.

Science Week 2013 News Release

Science Week 2013 NEws Release FR

Undaunted by a wicked winter storm, highway detours, and long airport delays, 26 determined teams from across Canada, including a number of French cegeps, made their way to Montreal for the 8^th annual Vanier College BDC Case Challenge held on February 9 and 10, 2013. 

 The big winners
After two days of fierce competition, the first place award of the 8^th annual Vanier College BDC Case Challenge went to the team from Algonquin College. Shouts of joy from team members Jenna-Marie Collins, Tara Sisson, Andrew Thomson and coach Bill Gabarino, greeted this justly deserved result. Second place honours went to the team from St. Lawrence College (Kingston), and third place went to New Brunswick Community College. The other three finalist teams who also analyzed a new case and presented on Sunday morning in the finals, were Vanier College, Dawson College and George Brown College.

Vanier College tops in Division One on Saturday
Kudos to the Vanier Team that was tops in Division One and won a place as one of the six finalists. Team members Kristy Cummings-Taylor, Samantha Hughes, Mark Clarizio, with alternate Melissa Piro, and Coaches David Moscovitz and Jessica Andrews truly did Vanier proud. 

 Scotia Bank winners – top six went on to the finals
This year’s ScotiaBank award winners, who were the top nine teams in Saturday’s competition, were: Vanier College, George Brown College, Collège Édouard-Montpetit, New Brunswick Community College, Dawson College, Collège Lionel-Groulx, Algonquin College, St Lawrence College, Kingston, and Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. Congratulations to all of the participating colleges and their teams for the high standard of presentations at this pan-Canadian event.

The Case Challenge is unique
The Vanier College BDC Case Challenge is unique.  It is the only national bilingual college level business competition for cegeps and community college marketing students in Canada and represents the high point of their studies for these marketing students and their teacher-coaches, with very high standards of performance expected and delivered by all participants. With only three hours available to analyze a never-before-seen business problem, teams must draw on all their knowledge, imagination and skills to deliver a winning marketing strategy before a panel of invited experts from business, industry and education.

Inspiring other teams across Canada
“This competition has inspired colleges across Canada to organize provincial case competitions whose winners then compete in the Vanier College BDC Case Challenge. The result is a high caliber of competitors and a challenging competition,” says chief organizer, David Moscovitz, Coordinator of the Vanier Business Administration Program.

About the principal sponsor BDC
BDC is the principal sponsor of the Case Challenge.  Canada’s business development bank, BDC, puts entrepreneurs first.  With 1,860 employees and 102 business centres across the country, BDC offers financing, subordinate financing, venture capital and consulting services to 29,000 small and medium-sized Canadian companies whose success is vital to our nation’s economic prosperity.

BDC Vanier College Case Challenge 2013 winners with photos

BDC Vanier College Case Challenge 2013 winners FR c photos