We acknowledge that the land that Fleming College is on, is the traditional territory of the Michi Saagig Anishnaabe, people of the North shore of Lake Ontario and its tributaries. Fleming College Campus locations are covered by eighteen treaties and agreements that the Michi Saagig Anishnaabe participated in from 1781 to 1923.
Fleming College has settled on this land and recognizes that the region is now home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and the importance of respecting the voices and history of Indigenous communities. We are grateful to work on this land and will continue to build authentic and reciprocal relationships.
Fleming College Seeks Employers to Help Pre-Apprenticeship Students Prepare for Future Careers
Peterborough, ON (Sept. 29, 2023) - Fleming College wants to connect with employers who are willing to provide paid placements for pre-apprenticeship carpentry and plumbing students.
These placements are crucial in providing students with valuable, real-world experience, while setting them up for successful careers in the carpentry and plumbing sectors.
Paid placements are approximately 12 weeks long and include wage subsidies funded by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
Placements are set to begin as early as October 16, 2023, with completion by February 2024.
Pre-apprenticeship Carpentry and Plumbing students have already completed six weeks of hands-on technical skills training, numeracy, computer skills and health and safety and 12 weeks of Level 1 Apprenticeship Training in their respective trade.
These Pre-apprenticeship training programs were provided free of charge at Fleming College to entice students to pursue successful careers in skilled trades.
For more information about this program and to submit an expression of interest visit flemingcollege.ca/preapprenticeship-training, call 1-866-353-6464 ext. 1510 or email PreApprenticeship@flemingcollege.ca.
For media enquiries, please contact: Sarah Deeth Communications Officer sarah.deeth@flemingcollege.ca 705-749-5530 ext. 1161
Peterborough, ON (Sept. 28, 2023) - Fleming College is pleased to announce the appointment of Don Gillespie as the new Chair of the Board of Governors.
Don first joined the Board in 2020, serving as the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. He served as Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Governance Committee from 2022-2023.
Don has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto, is a Chartered Professional Accountant, and has a Chartered Director designation from the Directors College.
A retired financial executive, Don is also a member of the Kawartha Land Trust’s Finance and Audit Committee and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Anglican Diocese of Toronto. Don has also served as a past Chair of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
“Fleming College is looking forward to working with Don and the Board of Governors as we embrace some exciting new challenges and opportunities,” said Fleming President Maureen Adamson. “Don's experience in the private sector as a former partner for Ernst & Young brings business acumen and leadership to the Board of Fleming College at an important juncture in our strategic direction.”
Don replaces outgoing Chair Fred Clifford, who has served on the Board since 2017.
“I would like to thank Fred for his years of service to Fleming and to education in this community,” Mr. Gillespie said. “I look forward to working with the rest of the Board to ensure the level of success and excellence at Fleming College continues for years to come.”
More information on Fleming’s Board of Governors can be found here.
For media enquiries, please contact: Sarah Deeth Communications Officer sarah.deeth@flemingcollege.ca 705-749-5530 ext. 1161
Fleming College Recognizes National Truth and Reconciliation Day
Peterborough, ON (Sept. 22, 2023) - Fleming College is recognizing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a week of listening, learning and awareness beginning Monday, Sept. 25.
Events take place at all three of Fleming’s campuses.
A children’s shoe collection will be on display at Sutherland, Frost and Haliburton Campuses from Monday through Friday, recognizing, remembering, and honouring Indigenous Children who were lost to Residential Schools.
Nish Tees, a local Indigenous business, will be selling orange shirts throughout the week at scheduled times. All proceeds will be donated to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
A full schedule of events can be found below:
Sutherland Campus: Orange shirts will be on sale from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. Shirts are $20 each for students, $25 for the rest of the Fleming community.
Monday, Sept. 25: Welcome and Drum Opening: Main Foyer, 10 – 11 a.m. Orange Shirt Beading: Main Foyer, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 26: Reading of “Phyllis’s Orange Shirt”: Main Foyer, 10 – 11 a.m. Screening of “The Secret Path”: Whetung Theatre, B3 100, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 27: Orange Rock Painting: Steele Centre Patio, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 28: Reading of “Phyllis’s Orange Shirt”: Main Foyer, 1 – 2 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 29: Rock Painting and Orange Shirt Beading: Main Foyer, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Frost Campus
Thursday, Sept. 28 and Friday, Sept. 29: Reading of “Phyllis’s Orange Shirt”: ISS Lounge 180A, 12 – 12:30 p.m. Orange Rock Painting: ISS Lounge 180A, 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Haliburton Campus Wednesday, Sept. 27: Orange Shirt Sales and Orange Rock Painting: The Great Hall, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
For media enquiries, please contact: Sarah Deeth Communications Officer sarah.deeth@flemingcollege.ca 705-749-5530 ext. 1161
Fleming Students Helped Launch Peterborough's First Pride Parade
Peterborough, ON (Sept. 21, 2023) - Twenty years ago, a small group of Fleming College students did something that was, at the time, pretty radical.
They created Peterborough’s Pride Parade.
Jax Blue was part of that group. He was enrolled in Fleming’s Drug and Alcohol Counselling program; It was the first of three programs he’d take at Fleming, graduating from that program in 2003, Social Service Worker in 2004 and Culinary Management in 2007.
Outside of his studies, he was actively involved in promoting and advocating for diversity awareness at Fleming. He was the president of the Fleming Association of Queer Students (FAQS), a group which advocated for diversity and inclusion and raised issues on behalf of Fleming’s 2SLGBTQ+ community.
Back in 2003, he explained, there wasn’t a whole lot for the 2SLGBTQ+ community to do outside of the odd Rainbow dance at one of the downtown bars.
But 2SLGBTQ+ issues were making headlines in 2003. Same sex marriage was being debated in the House of Commons. Pride Parades were common in large cities, and smaller municipalities were beginning to host them as well-though Jax noted smaller Pride Parades often came about after a lengthy human rights battle between the local 2SLGBTQ+ community and opposing community members.
“We would talk, and think, why can’t Peterborough have a Pride?” He said.
Bent on the idea of bringing Pride to Peterborough, Jax contacted Peterborough’s City Hall to see how FAQS could turn the idea of a Pride Parade into reality.
It turns out the process was pretty simple. Jax needed to write a proclamation, and get it approved by then-Mayor Sylvia Sutherland. “So I googled how to write a proclamation and went from there,” Jax said with a laugh.
It didn’t take long to write, he said, and he kept it folded up in his pocket to show friends to see if anyone had any input.
“I filed it thinking, ok, here we go, we’re up for a two-year human rights fight.”
He was shocked when City Hall called him back about a week later and told him the proclamation-and the Pride Parade-had received an official stamp of approval and that he could come pick up the now-official document.
“I said, ‘Yeah I’ll be over in five minutes before you change your mind.’”
A newspaper photospread from Peterborough's first Pride Parade. Image Courtesy of Jax Blue.
But not everyone was happy.
While some city councillors called Jax to offer congratulations and support, others publicly expressed outrage over not being consulted about the parade, and some residents voiced their disapproval.
Jax and his team still had a lot of work to do. They needed to pick a date, set a parade route, and raise $1,800 to pay for costs like road closures and policing.
“But it was unbelievable how quickly the community came together.”
Support poured in from all corners. The Peterborough NDP Riding Association invited Jax on an NDP boat cruise with Jack Layton and Howard Hampton to sell tickets to a Peterborough Pride fundraising dinner.
Pride Month is in June, but Peterborough’s Pride has always taken place in September. It was a date the Fleming team picked because it’s when Fleming and Trent students arrive to attend Fall semester classes. Jax thought they’d need student support to make sure the event was successful.
“I’m there, I’m going OMG, are we going to have 10 people, 50 people, 100 people? That would be great,” Jax recalled. “And then I saw how many people actually showed up.”
Police and reporters covering Peterborough’s first Pride Parade estimate that a crowd of 300 to 400 people stood outside City Hall to support and march in Peterborough Pride.
The event has grown tremendously since that initial walk.
On September 15 a team of Fleming College representatives, local politicians and community members were at City Hall to hoist the Pride flag high into the air. Hundreds of residents representing their community, businesses and organizations will walk in the Sept. 23 parade.
Jax has only missed one Peterborough Pride in the 20 years since he helped create it.
There’s a tradition he’s upheld, year after year.
There’s a point in the march, he explains, when the parade turns a corner after heading through the downtown core and heads toward Millennium Park.
It’s at that point that Jax steps out of the parade, turns around, and silently takes in the swell of people marching in the parade.
“I stop and I stand there by myself, and I just watch the rest of the parade go by, and it’s always emotional for me.”
Jax will be there on Saturday, Sept. 23 for his 20th pride parade. And once again, he’ll stand at the corner, turn around, and reflect proudly on how far the Peterborough community has come.
Fleming College will be at the Peterborough Pride Parade and Pride in the Park on Saturday, Sept. 23.
All Fleming students, employees, and supporters are welcome to walk with us in the parade or cheer us on along George Street. We’ll be decorating on site in the PACE School parking lot in front of City Hall and the Cenotaph between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
A participant in Peterborough's first Pride Parade in September, 2003. Image courtesy of Jax Blue.
Creating Friendly, Inclusive Neighbourhoods in our Campus Communities
Peterborough, ON (Sep. 12, 2023) - Fleming College is helping ensure new and returning students get to know their neighbours through the Great Neighbourhood Walk.
The Great Neighbourhood Walk is a student-led initiative which connects students to residents in our campus communities. Through a partnership between the Fleming College Student Administrative Council, the Frost Student Association, the Peterborough Police Service, the City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service and representatives from local municipalities, this initiative gives students knowledge and resources to have a successful off-campus housing experience.
Teams consisting of police officers, municipal representatives and students will be walking through residential areas around the Sutherland and Frost campuses, handing out swag and information to new residents. This information includes garbage and recycling pickup schedules, public transit routes, city maps and tips on how students can be great neighbours and help create a warm, inclusive environment in their community.
The Great Neighbourhood Walk returns to the Sutherland Campus Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m. The Walk takes place around the Frost Campus in Lindsay Oct. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
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