A “Windows of Opportunity” Expo Career Fair will be hosted by Hospitality, Tourism and Recreation students at the Barrie Campus of Georgian College on Feb. 7.

Leading employers in the hospitality, tourism, culinary and recreation industries are coming to the college to network with students and the public looking for careers in the field. They will be seeking new employees to work in food and beverage, event planning, office administration, customer service, adventure recreation and leisure and much more.

Businesses from our own backyard and across Canada will be represented. This is the perfect opportunity for those looking for successful and rewarding careers or co-operative seasonal employment.

The fair takes place in the gymnasium from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All are welcome and admission is free.

For further information, check out the Expo Facebook page – search Georgian College HTR Expo 2012, or call the Expo office at 705-728-1968, ext. 6211.

Georgian College Optical

State-of-the-art equipment will be brought in, much more space will be available and College Contacts, the contact lens clinic, will be situated right in the clinic. In addition, the clinic will be open five days a week, compared to the three days a week it currently operates.

“The new Georgian College Optical will really be a one-stop shop for vision care,” says Opticianry Co-ordinator Janice Schmidt. “The public can come and get an eye exam, and get a prescription filled whether it’s frames or contacts, all in support of learning opportunities for students.”

With reasonable prices and an array of styles of sunglasses and eyeglass frames, it’s worth getting vision care on campus for the benefit of students. Fitting eye glasses and taking measurements are examples of tasks that students get to complete while being supervised by a professional.

“There’s nothing like real-life experience when it comes to opportunities for the students,” says Janice. “They get to work directly with clients at the clinic, which prepares them for entering the opticianry field.”

The Lions Club of Barrie realizes the potential of Opticianry students and has a long-standing partnership with Georgian. It all started 13 years ago when the club established an achievement award for a qualified Opticianry student. More recently, the club donated $250,000 in support of Georgian College Optical in the Centre for Health and Wellness.

As part of this partnership, Georgian Opticianry students also get the chance to give back and help those less fortunate. The students collect used glasses in a drop off box that is available at the clinic. They then clean, neutralize and package them for shipment. The packaged glasses are taken to the Lions Club, where they are shipped to Third World countries for people in need.

“The donation project in partnership with the Lions Club is built into the curriculum,” says Janice. “Each of the students is required to devote time to helping fix broken or used glasses for the mission.”

Overall, the new Georgian College Optical clinic will focus on first rate education and experience for students, while providing vision care for the community in an extraordinary facility.

For more information about Georgian College Optical or the Opticianry program, please contact Janice Schmidt, Co-ordinator at (705) 728-1968, ext. 1450 or e-mail jschmidt@georgianc.on.ca.

Students will have access to a brand new massage lab/classroom and a separate room dedicated to remedial exercises with clients.

“All students in the Massage Therapy program get hands-on experience in the clinic,” says Massage Therapy program co-ordinator Brian Dormer. “This really prepares them for the field, as they will already have experience working with clients when they complete the program.”

In addition to practical, students will also have the opportunity to participate in a ground-breaking client care system. All client medical records will be electronic, allowing referrals from one health care clinic to another be completely streamlined.

“Nothing like this exists in Simcoe County,” says Brian. “Whether it’s the Massage Therapy Clinic, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, Georgian Optical or the Spa and Esthetics Clinic in the new Centre, we’re all going to be connected.”

Once the client has been referred, his or her medical record will be able to be accessed by the health care provider instantly. The inter-professional focus will provide the best outcomes for client, as well as for staff and students who will be caring for them.

“The Massage Therapy Clinic is awesome,” says past client and Georgian staff member Doug Crawford. “You can’t beat $25 for a treatment. It was really helpful for me, as I needed to come in once a week for a while. I know that it would have been quite pricey had I gone elsewhere.”

Helping those in need is a key element of the Massage Therapy program, and it goes beyond providing day-to-day treatments.

The Massage Therapy Clinic has partnered with local organizations such as Parkinson Society Canada, Barrie Chapter, and Brain Injury Services Muskoka/Simcoe to provide free treatments. These treatments are for people with a specialized need, who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to receive them. Space in the clinic is dedicated for such treatments.

Socially conscious, the clinic is also environmentally-friendly with an online booking system and is completely paperless. Additionally, all massage therapy equipment is ergonomically designed to ensure students and their clients are comfortable and without risk of injury.

For more information on the Massage Therapy Clinic at the Barrie Campus, contact Brian Dormer at ext. 1461.

Georgian College

Show your support for the Rotary Club of Barrie, one of Georgian’s valued donors, and lace up your shoes. All Georgian staff, students, alumni, volunteers and family can sign up as Georgian representatives. You can choose to walk 5K or run 5K or 10K. The race kit pick-up begins at 4 p.m. and the run starts at 6:30 p.m. from the Southshore Community Centre in Barrie. Pre-registration is $25 each or $80 for a team of four. On race day, registration is $30 each or $100 for a team of four.

 Tor to register, visit http://www.barriefunrun.com/. Don’t forget to put “GC” before your name when you register and to e-mail rsvp@georgianc.on.ca to let us know you are part of the team.