AC Featured at College Association for Language and Literacy (CALL) Conference
Posted on Tuesday, June 4th, 2019
May was a big month for the Horticultural Industries program at Algonquin College. Not only did we see two of our students win gold in the Skills Canada National Competition May 28-29 in Nova Scotia, but also we presented the strides made with Horticultural Industries in the classroom this past year at the College Association for Language and Literacy (CALL) Conference in Southern Ontario.
The College Association for Language and Literacy is a registered non-profit organization, which aims to enrich literacy and language learning throughout the province of Ontario’s community colleges. Featuring discussions about building community in classrooms and with colleagues, collaboration and group work, and more, this year’s 12th annual CALL conference possesses a theme of building community. A competitive process decides presentations at this conference, and Co-op’s collaboration with English faculty in the Horticultural Industries program was one of the presentations selected by the evaluation committee.
Matt Wheatley, Stakeholder Relations Lead, Cooperative Education; Michele Hall, English Professor, School of Media and Design
Matt Wheatley, Stakeholder Relations Lead, Cooperative Education, and Michele Hall, English Professor, School of Media and Design, presented the achievements and further value added to our Horticultural Industries program at the CALL Conference last week alongside AC English Faculty. This collaboration worked to embed the co-op preparedness exercizes and assignments (resume, cover letter, interviewing skills) directly within the course schedule of the Communications I course. These exercizes and assignments helped prepare students for Horticultural Industries Day, an event that brings over 20 horticulture-specific employers together with our co-op students to drive connection and help students earn work-terms for the upcoming summer.
“Working with Matt and the Co-op team has not only made my job easier, but also greatly benefited the Horticulture students, who now better see the value of the Communications I course and how it relates to their learning and career journeys. As a result of our collaboration, I saw greater student attendance, participation, and performance in Communications I.” – Michele Hall, School of Media and Design.
“Professor Hall is extremely knowledgeable and supportive of our Horticultural Industries students. She is a key driver to the success of our Horticultural Industries students in the workplace.” – Matt Wheatley, Cooperative Education Department.
The annual CALL conference is held annually at unique venues across Ontario. Algonquin College was proud to host this conference in 2011, contributing to the enrichment of literacy and language learning of Ontario post-secondary students. We will be hosting again in 2020.