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First up... NORTH REGION.

We aim to use this newsletter to communicate updates, resources and strengthen connections with OCR members! We will be highlighting one Region in each newsletter and to kick us off, North Region has some things they want to share!

BOREAL
CAMBRIAN
CANADORE
CONFEDERATION
GEORGIAN
LAKEHEAD ORILLIA
SAULT

Fall Bus Tour & Hike
CONFEDERATION COLLEGE

Confederation booked a couple of school buses to bring their students to popular local Fall attractions. They scheduled the event for a Saturday and a $10 fee was required upon registration. This included:

> Visit to a local farm, including hayrides, pumpkin catapult, corn maze, farm animals, snacks and refreshments.
> Bagged lunch provided while visiting Kakabecca Falls (known as the little Niagara Falls) for a hike and site seeing.
> Calming and enjoyable bus ride to and from the event throughout leafy scenery (which was very pretty with fall colours!)

They said the event filled up very quickly and there was a lot of International participation.

Student-Athlete Highlight
SAULT COLLEGE

Meet Hannah Webb, a student-athlete at Sault College! Hannah has worked at the WAC throughout the summer months and is now enrolled full-time at Sault College in the Civil Engineering Technician Program, while also playing for our outdoor and indoor varsity soccer teams. She has recently joined the team in our Athletics Department and will be working in the Fitness Centre throughout the winter months. Being a student, athlete, and employee is not an easy workload to balance and we are grateful to have a well-rounded individual such as Hannah to fill these integral positions at Sault College!

New Staff Introduction
LAKEHEAD ORILLIA

Lakehead University, Orillia welcomed new staff member, Lily McGuire to the Athletics and Recreation department in July 2021. Lily joins the team as the Wellness and Recreation Assistant.

Lily completed her Bachelor of Kinesiology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario in the spring of 2020. As a student at Laurier, Lily found her passion for working in the Athletics and Recreation field through her many roles in the department. Her experience lies primarily in events, community engagement and customer service. She joins the small but mighty team at Lakehead Orillia, providing support in the areas of recreation, intramurals, varsity and administrative support, as well as areas of Student Health & Wellness on the Orillia campus.

While most of Lily's experience is in the varsity level of sport, she is excited to be taking on this role to support a wider student population through inclusive campus recreation opportunities and events, as we continue to navigate through the post pandemic world and return to sport.

Panther Trail Quest
CANADORE COLLEGE

Program description:
Every Saturday in September, the Panther went out to hide Prize Packs or secret codes throughout trail system that we have on campus. We held the event from Noon – 4pm (or until prize inventory was depleted). We had an event tent on site for users to be able to check in, get more information, and collect their prizes but the event logistics were mainly run through our Sport and Wellness Instagram account. Via our story, we were able to give hints for the secret locations, share photos of users who tagged us while out on the trail, and notify all users of event status (ie. Prize packs depleted, incoming inclement weather, etc.).

Summary:
The events were a smash hit from every angle, and the best part was that as far as day-of programming it was super simple and extremely fun! Most of the work was in the preparation (finding secret locations day prior, installing signage/prize packs, marking trails, marketing the event properly) which ensured success! We averaged 30+ students per Saturday. Our student staff LOVED facilitating as they were able to engage with students, help out by patrolling the trails, and give away a bunch of swag to some happy participants. And… it made our health and safety team happy because it was facilitated completely outdoors and we were able to lean on our social media channels day of to communicate with the group! It was a blast chatting with students out on the trails via direct messaging on Instagram as we were monitoring closely for the duration of the event.

Notes: A few key tips to keep in mind:

We had some pretty awesome prize opportunities so that helped with the excitement around the event! Branded Panther gear (crewnecks, tumblers, sweat towels, shaker cups, gift packs from on campus coffee shop, etc.) AND evolved to hiding “Secret Codes” which allowed us to create different tiers of prizes for participants when they came back to the event tent. This allowed us to ensure that more folks went home with something and created less of a feeling of a “race” to find the prizes. It was more leisurely and enjoyable using the secret code system.
Due to the success and visibility of the events, we’re going to run some throughout the winter while highlighting our snowshoe sign-out opportunities. The trails are even more beautiful in the winter so we look forward to giving our students that experience (bonus: an awesome cultural experience for our international students who are joining us from contrasting climates!)
Our student staff did not want to give up their Saturday Trail Quest shifts when we were proposing schedule changes! 😃 – Super fun.
This event highlighted the importance of attention to detail (great experience from top to bottom – collaterals, prizes, event tent layout, social media interactions, music, panther mascot came out, etc.)
Helped us highlight out trail system which is a rec opportunity available to students virtually any time!

The OCR Committee would like to host one ROUND TABLE CHECK-IN each semester to facilitate ongoing resource sharing, success highlights and opportunities to network for creative expansion. Please save the dates in your calendar and look forward to some virtual meeting invites in the near future!

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