Q3 - ISSUE 1 SEPTEMBER 2017 The Advisor Progressive Training College of Business & Health Alumni Update Antonio A., an Academic Upgrading/ Customer Service grad from our Toronto campus is happily working at Downtown Honda! Pictured - Students and guests at our Thunder Bay campus hold up their I love Canada Because notes that were put on display to celebrate Canada s 150th birthday. PTC Celebrates Canada 150 On Thursday June 29, 2017, students, teachers, and members of the public at each of our five campuses celebrated what Canada means to them. It was a great day to celebrate Canada s 150th birthday at PTC! Students and guests at our Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Barrie, Toronto and Scarborough campuses enjoyed a day of good food, prizes, Canada-themed games and activities and reflection on why they love Canada! I love Canada because Our multiculturalism and the best poutine! A vast, clean and diverse landscape! Land of opportunity! It accepts me for who I am - a proud muslim! Upcoming Events Open House Thunder Bay, Barrie, Toronto, Scarborough: September 29, 2017 9:00 AM 4:30 PM Terry Fox Run College-wide: September 17, 2017 1
Who Are We? Featuring Cale Zimmerman Cale is our Student Advisor and Campus Manager at PTC s Toronto campus. - Played high school baseball against Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs - Only recently started liking mustard ever since I had it on a Montreal smoked meat sandwich Want to have a chat with Cale? Get in touch with him at czimmerman@ptcollege.com. I like doing what I do because I get to interact with several different people on a daily basis. I am not only spending time with students, but I am talking with companies in the community to get a feel for what they are looking for in potential employees. Some fun facts: - I have been to 30 of the 50 US states but only 3 of the 10 Canadian provinces. ALERT: September Classes Starting Our Personal Support Worker and Business Programs are gearing up for another term! There are still some spots available - Please contact us at info@ptcollege.com or 1-888-711-3271 TODAY for more information. PTC BARRIE CAMPUS IS MOVING SOON Our Barrie campus is moving! We are excited to serve you better at our new location at 136 Bayfield St, Suite 106, Barrie, L4M 3B3. Important Dates: September 8, 11 - No Barrie classes - school closed September 12 - School re-opens at new location! September 29 - Open House 2
Job Fears? Transitioning to a new career can be incredibly overwhelming, but PTC excels at making it a smooth journey. Mike Dell Angelo, our Student Advisor and Campus Manager at PTC s Barrie Campus explains. Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to work with people going through career transitions who have had one career their whole lives, or have worked in the same position for the past 20 years. For most of these people, they have an enormous amount of fear about finding a new job. Many of them claim they have never had to write a resume before, and they feel overwhelmed by the idea of finding a new job. They feel like they re facing a 10-ft. wall they have to scale. So we usually begin by building confidence. People who have worked one job most of their lives have difficulty verbalizing their duties and accomplishments. They ve done something for so long that it s ordinary to them. When something is an every-day activity we sometimes underestimate how difficult of a skill it is to perform. So we sit down one-on-one with our students, and ask them to tell us all the things they would do in a day. Then we ask them what special activities they performed in addition to these activities. Were they ever on special boards or committees? Were they ever involved in a unique project? Usually when we ask people these kinds of questions it jump starts a list of accomplishments that people largely forgot they were involved in. It goes a long way in building a person s sense of accomplishment, and it allows us to bolster their confidence. The next step is building job search skills. We teach obvious things like how to draft and develop a resume, how to write a cover letter. We also impart how to search for jobs online, how to market yourself online. We try to teach people how to talk about their previous experiences in a positive way. How to flesh out their transferable skills. Again, the biggest barrier to success is a lack of confidence. That 10-ft. wall of fear, we try to show people how to walk around, and for some, how to break it down. Want to have a chat with Mike? Get in touch with him at mdellangelo@ptcollege.com. Event Highlights - Grad Appreciation Day 3
Graduate Goods: Featuring Nancy Jones Thunder Bay campus Personal Support Worker grad Nancy Jones shares her inspirational story of following her dreams and giving back to her community. The meeting was prefect, we discussed the program, curriculum and cost and it was all very doable for me, even as a single foster parent. the classes were scheduled for the same hours of the day that the kids would be in school and Kathie helped me work out a payment plan that was affordable and would not cause me any financial hardship. I was very nervous about going back to school after 30 years but with the help of my instructor and my fellow students the process went very smoothly. The classes are small, there were 7 in mine, which made it very easy to get to know each other and give each other encouragement and support. At the age of 47, I found myself really questioning what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, or at least until retirement. I had been working as a receptionist at a local car dealership and found it very unfulfilling. My dream when I was kid was to become a nurse, I had always planned on going to school for nursing but life got in the way and that didn't happen. So I was on social media one day and read a post from a friend who had recently become a personal support worker. I inquired where he had gone to school, length of course, etc. and he said he had gone to Progressive Training College of Business and Health. I researched online and found an email address for the local branch of the college. I sent and email and got a prompt reply from the instructor Kathie Winkworth and set up and appointment to go in and speak to her. When the classroom portion of the program was over it was time to move to the placement part. This was very scary for me because now it was all "hands on" with the residents of a long term care facility. The night before I was so nervous I barely slept, but when that first day was over I was surprised at how well I did and not nervous I was... I owe that to PTC and the knowledge they gave me the in classroom before my placement started. Everything I learned fell into place and in no time I was very comfortable in my placement. Right before my placement started I lost my childcare provider.. I was panicked and didn't know what I would do because placement required us to do both day and evening shifts, I had no one to watch my foster kids after school till my placement was over at 11 pm... I was devastated at the thought of not completing the course and getting my PSW diploma. I spoke with Kathie and she said they will see what they can do for me... She was able to place me with 4
two different preceptors which allowed me to work straight days until my placement was complete, in both long term care and community placement. I completed the course with my fellow classmates and the day after graduation I signed my offer of employment with the company I did my placement with and I am currently still employed with them. I love my job, I love my residents but I especially love the fulfillment I get from being a PSW. Our seniors made this country as great as it is today and they deserve to be treated with respect, care and compassion. This is also what motivated me to start a non profit charity after only three months as a PSW called Grandma's Closet. I provide used clothing for seniors in long term care who have no family or caregivers to provide clothing for them. My business has had a tremendous response and I find myself running out or storage space faster then I can distribute the clothes, but I am so proud of my community for stepping up and seeing the need for this kind of charity and donating so generously... goal is to make sure that no senior in long term care has to ever go without enough clothes!" To learn more about Nancy and her business, Grandma s Closet, visit her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nancyjones2016/ 1-888-711-3271 info@ptcollege.com PTCOLLEGE.COM 5