TORONTO, Ont. – Three teams from College of the North Atlantic (CNA) travelled to Toronto, Ont. May 14-16 and faced more than 1,500 of the country’s brightest university and college students, academic professionals and top business leaders.
The 2018 Enactus Canada National Exposition is a three-day event that supports entrepreneurial action for social impact through competition, recognition and education, and also gives students a platform to showcase their community outreach projects and business ventures.
CNA’s Enactus Grand Falls-Windsor team is comprised of eight students who were divided into two teams – “Hope Matters” and the presentation team. They were accompanied by Susanne Ivey, CNA Business Management instructor, and Grand Falls-Windsor Campus Director, Joan Pynn.
Members of the “Hope Matters” team include Stephanie Janes, Kyle Roberts, Natasha Service, and Carrie-Lee West, who won their regional division in Halifax in March.
Jade King, Crystal Ford, Sarah Ballard, and Jeremy Keefe are members of the presentation team, who went on to win the Enactus Spirit Award at the national event. This award recognizes an Enactus team that demonstrates a strong commitment to improving the lives of others, and furthering the organization’s mission with the utmost passion and enthusiasm.
“The Enactus National Exhibition offers students an incredible learning opportunity. They get to pit themselves against the best the country has to offer. It is experiential learning at its finest. What they take away from such competitions cannot be learned in a classroom. I am incredibly proud of our students, as they were fabulous ambassadors for both their campus and their college,” Pynn said.
CNA’s Enactus St. John’s (Prince Philip Drive - PPD) team has six first-year students - Cassandra Marshall, Brittany Grandy, Christine Johnston, Lis Duff, Alexanne Oake, and Cheryl Tucker. The team was accompanied by their coach Peter Inkpen, a Business Management instructor at CNA.
Trudy O'Neill, PPD Campus Director, said, “This was a great experience for our team to share presentations on our two projects – ‘Total Exposure’ (provides help to those with mental health illness to increase their confidence and educate them to offer an income), and ‘Independent You’ (a project designed to connect with students in rural Newfoundland and helps to teach them about financial decisions with regards to post-secondary education). They were able to do so while competing with colleges and universities across Canada, some of which have $30 million projects presently ongoing around the world.”
Melanie Frampton, president of CNA’s Enactus Clarenville team, brought home an individual award. The second-year Business Administration student at Clarenville campus was awarded the John Dobson Founder’s Bursary by Enactus Canada. The award is funded by The John Dobson Foundation and named for the founder of Enactus Canada, Ian Aitken. The Founder’s Bursary Program awards a total of $25,000 to outstanding students for their contributions to their respective Enactus programs each year.
Frampton’s teammates are Zoe Costello, Stacie Hann, Wendy Penney, Jordan Cotter, Cyndi Hickey, Laura lee Ivany, Sara Short and Nick Jacobs. Faculty Advisor Deidra Strowbridge said the experience was invaluable for the students and was pleased with how well the presentations went.
Among the projects the Enactus Clarenville team has been involved in are: ‘Helping Hands Senior Handyman Service,’ a project focused on helping seniors in the area perform household maintenance tasks; ‘iPad's for Seniors,’ which is focused on helping seniors improve their livelihoods in the areas of technology, healthy living, and improved mental and physical assistance; and, ‘Dollars with Sense,’ a project involving a series of learning activities that give youth ages eight to 12 an understanding of money and financial education.
“I am extremely proud of this group of students, as it was their first time at the Enactus National Exposition. They came to the competition with great team spirit and worked fabulously together. Throughout the year these students have volunteered over 2,000 hours to work on Enactus projects that focus on bettering our community. Each project aims to make a positive economic, environmental, and social impact,” said Strowbridge.
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Media Contact:
Minal Abhange
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.7870
minal.abhange@cna.nl.ca