With 2016 beginning, we’d like to look back at the initiatives, accomplishments and memories from an active and proud college community. We have our students and faculty to thank for successes and look forward to seeing what the New Year brings for our budding professionals!
If you’d like to stay in touch with us, then make sure to follow CCMH/WCCMT on Facebook, LinkedIn or our blog! If you’d like to be featured in one of our upcoming blogs, contact us at [email protected].
Thank you for making our college great!
National News
Introduction of the new Massage Addict Annual Scholarship
Massage Addict, a leading employer of Massage Therapists, is excited to establish a scholarship program for CCMH/WCCMT Students. The “Excellence in Massage Therapy” scholarship will offer $1500 to a CCMH/WCCMT student from each campus that best exemplifies the ideals and criteria of a caring and passionate Massage Therapist. The goal of the scholarship is to recognize high achievement while also offering financial support to the recipient. To be eligible for the scholarship, the student must be in their final year of study by January 31st. Students are encouraged to apply for scholarship by any means they are comfortable with, such as an essay, video or storyboard. Final selections will be made by Massage Addict and may include a personal interview. Applications will be due to the director of your campus by January 31st and will be awarded February 28th of each year.
Cambridge
New Faculty
We’d like to take a moment to welcome our new faculty members to the CCMH Cambridge Campus. Anna Baker started as our Clinic & Outreach Coordinator in September. She is a photographer in her spare time and recently had one of her photos from a wedding published in a magazine. Check out her website for more information! We’d also like to welcome Barb Kirby, the new Admissions Coordinator who joined us at the end of September. We also have Lynlee N. and Robin as our two new Clinic Supervisors. We welcome all the new members and look forward to having them on our team!
World Record Breaker
Speaking of exciting faculty members, Steve Richtaritsch is competing to break a world record for beer carrying! In an attempt to break the world record, he carried 26 steins full of beer for over 40 meters.
Victoria
New Faculty
We have a lot of exciting new people who joined our team this semester! First, we have Irene Borecky as our new Research Instructor. She is a Certified Athletic Therapist with a Masters in Rehabilitation Science from the University of British Columbia. She is currently earning her Diploma of Osteopathic Manual Practice at the Canadian College of Osteopathy. We also have a returning member – Alyssa Hindle who has rejoined us to teach A&P. She earned a Master of Science in Neuroscience and Physical education and Recreation at the University of Alberta. She is also a certified personal training and seasoned instructor and has experience in science media. We also welcome Michelle Payne, the new General Pathology instructor. She is a Victoria native who earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at the University of Victoria and her Diploma of Naturopathic Medicine at the Boucher Institute.
Events
November 27th was our faculty and staff Christmas party! Students and teachers joined
together to celebrate the holidays and toast to the winter semester.
Our admissions teams attended the annual Education Career Fair in Nanaimo on December 2nd. This was the largest career fair on the island. Coming up on December 11th, our term 3 students will be visiting the cadaver lab at University of Victoria. On December 14th, we celebrated Alice’s birthday. On December 17th, WCCMT Victoria administrators will be sponsored and served a hot breakfast at Our Place, an inner-city community center serving Victoria’s most vulnerable citizens.
Halifax
Semi Annual Open House
We had a great turn out this year at our Open House on October 17th. There was something for everyone, including “mini” massage treatments and tours of the facility for members of the public and a trade show of CEU opportunities for alumni.
Student Opportunities
We are currently offering plenty of fun and educational events for students at the Halifax campus. We have an ongoing speaker series for students which will cover topics such as essential oils, self-care and homeopathy.
This week will feature Ryan Young, a fascial stretch specialist and CCMH alumni. We also held many weekend CEU courses over the past few months, which included classes for Indian Head Massage, Jade Stone Massage, Cupping and many other massage and therapy practices for specialist. And don’t forget that every Tuesday morning, Christy Nickerson hosts a free yoga class for students and staff.
Outreaches
We’ve had a lot of opportunities to help with the community this term. Some of the many events we participated in were Nova Scotia Power, Victim Support, Dalhousie Theater Students and Canadian Forces Professional Day.
Toronto
School Spirit Events
We had a great time at our Halloween Party this year and got to see some amazing costumes! Congratulations to John Slade for winning first prize for his unique costume.
On Friday, December 4th, we hosted our very first Ugly Sweater Day contest. Congratulations to our winners, Alexandra Denvir (Term 3), Gavin Kerr (Instructor) and Taylor Docherty (Term 1)!
CCMH Gives Back
On Saturday, November 28th, students and staff volunteered their time to raise money for two charities. Our clinic was open from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm and we gave massages to members of the public. We brought in over $1500, which was all donated to The Daily Bread Food Bank and a minor league sports team.
Lunch & Learn Series
We are pleased to announce the new CCMH Toronto Campus Lunch & Learn Series. As a response to student feedback, we aim to have one presenter per month to discuss topics relating to the Massage Therapy Profession.
The goal of this initiative is to offer our students beneficial information that they wouldn’t necessarily be exposed to in the traditional curriculum. The events are open to students and alumni of CCMH.
In November, “League” presented their “uber” concept for the health care field. For our December event, Lad Kucis, a lawyer that specializes in Health Law”, came for the first installment of his presentation series. In January, Massage Addict will present information about their business model within the Massage Therapy Profession and discuss what they can offer RMT’s as a prospective employer
New Faculty
We are proud to welcome the following members to the Toronto Team! Mark Dones has joined us to assist in the MST 1 class; Kendra Thomson is assisting in the CA3 class; and Noah Mintz will be joining our team in January to teach SAP2.
New Westminster
We are proud to welcome Mirna Djuric as the Manager of Student and Facility services. Mirna enjoys working in a dynamic and fast paced environment. Her passion, enthusiasm and commitment are definite assests to fostering a positive learning experience for students, faculty and staff at WCCMT.
Soup Day at North West
In October, WCCMT North Westminster held a soup tasting event that brought in a unexpected guest who wanted to high light two of our students. While we were deciding which of the three soups were the best (Thai Curry won, BTW), a man came in to join with the soup slurping. It turns out that he had fallen outside our doors the day before, and was assisted by some of our students. He came in that day looking to thank them and it turned out to be our very own Mike Calder and Elena Leonidas! Thank you both for representing WCCMT the best way possible – helping someone in need!
November Clinic
In November, we held a charity event for the True Patriot of Love Foundation, a national charity that honours the sacrifices of members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and their families in both times of peace and conflict. For this event, WCCMT offered $25 massages to the public and donated $4 for every massage to the foundation.
Pajama Day
On December 1st, students and staff spent a day together learning, laughing and lounging over hot chocolate and popcorn for our first ever Pajama Day. The goal was to foster a fun environment while focusing on building relationships, boosting morale and having a good time together. We’ve had so much fun and happy feedback from our faculty and students, and look forward to hosting another Pajama Day next year!
