About the Event:
On Saturday November 14, 2015, the 7th Congress of Education focused on Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM)
This event was held at the Ontario Science Centre on Saturday November 8th 2014 with an outreach to over 400 participants and their families to participate in several workshops and conferences during the day.
This conference brought speakers from prestigious institutions and members of the community who motivated Spanish Speaking students to find their future in Canada, focus on their education, stay in school and aspire to post-secondary education, but it also allowed us to multiply our mission to support their success in Canada.
Additionally the Congress allowed speakers and promoters to make highlights on the importance of health and wellness, building resilience and self-esteem, and mental health in the community.
This event was held at the Ontario Science Centre on Saturday November 8th 2014 with an outreach to over 400 participants and their families to participate in several workshops and conferences during the day.
This conference brought speakers from prestigious institutions and members of the community who motivated Spanish Speaking students to find their future in Canada, focus on their education, stay in school and aspire to post-secondary education, but it also allowed us to multiply our mission to support their success in Canada.
Additionally the Congress allowed speakers and promoters to make highlights on the importance of health and wellness, building resilience and self-esteem, and mental health in the community.
Children attending the event were treated to two different IMAX movies during the event.
Speaker Bios
Scott Mills
Mills has been a police officer for 23 years, currently assigned as Social Media Officer working in the Toronto Police Corporate Communications office and volunteers as a social media adviser for community led Crime Stoppers programs in partnership with police and media nationally in Canada, in USA and internationally. Scott is a serving board member on the Spanish Speaking Education Network, Communities Advancing Valued Environments and the Ontario Gang Investigators Association.
“Community collaboration is the key to success and safety and social media tools are a must to accomplish these goals using a relationships and technology strategy.” Currently working to design a Real Time Crisis Centre, that envisions the use of technology strategies and social media to save lives, especially for people experiencing mental health and homelessness issues, and to reduce 911 calls and hospital emergency room visits. Scott’s passion is working with youth on the theme of graffiti art and community building and BMX bikes. He is also passionate about furthering investigations and prevention efforts for missing and murdered indigenous women.
Scott Mills, have been one of the strongest pillars behind the success of SSENu can edit text on your website by double clicking on a text box on your website. Alternatively, when you select a text box a settings menu will appear. Selecting ‘Edit Text’ from this menu will also allow you to edit the text within this text box. This area is fully editable and can be used to display testimonials from your customers speaking of their experience with your services or products.
“Community collaboration is the key to success and safety and social media tools are a must to accomplish these goals using a relationships and technology strategy.” Currently working to design a Real Time Crisis Centre, that envisions the use of technology strategies and social media to save lives, especially for people experiencing mental health and homelessness issues, and to reduce 911 calls and hospital emergency room visits. Scott’s passion is working with youth on the theme of graffiti art and community building and BMX bikes. He is also passionate about furthering investigations and prevention efforts for missing and murdered indigenous women.
Scott Mills, have been one of the strongest pillars behind the success of SSENu can edit text on your website by double clicking on a text box on your website. Alternatively, when you select a text box a settings menu will appear. Selecting ‘Edit Text’ from this menu will also allow you to edit the text within this text box. This area is fully editable and can be used to display testimonials from your customers speaking of their experience with your services or products.
Connect with Constable Scott Mills Toronto Police Service on his blog SuccessAndSafety.com
Donna Quan
Quan brings 30 years of education experience to her current role as Director of Education and Secretary-Treasurer of the Toronto District School Board. She began her education career with teaching roles in elementary schools, including experience in French Immersion and Out-of-Province Native Reserve schools.
In 1985, Donna began her career at the Toronto District School Board, and she established one of the first non-profit, school-based Early Years Childcare Centres. Since then, she has held a number of progressively senior positions within the TDSB including Principal, Families of Schools Superintendent, System and Executive Superintendent, with leadership for Caring and Safe Schools, Alternative Programs and Schools, School Improvement, Inner City Schools and Information Management. In addition, she has worked at the Ministry of Education and has contributed as a presenter and speaker at International forums.
Catherine Paisley
Paisley joined the Ontario Science Centre in 2000 as the Associate Director, Creative Learning Experiences. Now the Vice President, Science Education, she is part of the senior team of the Centre, responsible for strategic and operational leadership. She oversees all facets of the organization’s formal and informal educational activities including programs for school groups and teachers; children and families; and adults & corporate groups. The Ontario Science Centre Science School; adult and youth Volunteer Program and Facility Rentals are also part of her portfolio. Catherine’s leadership in the development of educational partnerships has resulted in: the Adopt-a-Class program where approximately 35,000 students from at-risk Toronto neighbourhoods visit annually free-of-charge; the integration of science and science literacy into Early Childhood Education post-secondary internships; and the development of professional development tools for Ontario teachers supporting student-led inquiry in the classroom.
Catherine also holds the position of Past-President of the Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC). She originally joined the board of the CASC in 2007 and has held the role of Treasurer, Vice-President and President. During her term, she led the Association’s attainment of charitable status and secured multi-year funding to support science engagement programs on a national level.
Catherine has an undergraduate degree in Business from Ryerson University, and a graduate degree in Education from the OISE/UT.
Victor Garcia
Garcia is a member of the Board of Directors for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, representing Ontario. He is a Senior Fellow at Bell Canada, Bell Business Markets, and an Adjunct Professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University, Big Data and Analytics post master’s degree program. Prior to this, he was the CTO for Hewlett Packard Canada.
Garcia has been recognized by his peers for his business, technology and innovation work, his corporate social responsibility and community involvement. He has been a member of several trade missions, representing Canada and Ontario trade missions to Latin America. Garcia’s experience also includes serving as director or advisor for several organizations and currently sits on the board of Canadian Hispanic Congress and the Toronto Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
r products.
Jill Aitken
Aitken earned her BSc (honours) in Marine Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She stayed at Dalhousie to study for her MSc in Biology, and was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal for the highest academic achievement in the faculty of graduate studies. After a stint working as a biologist in Uganda, East Africa, with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Jill went to King’s College, University of Cambridge, to study for a PhD in Zoology. As a doctoral student, she received the W. S. Hoar Award from the Canadian Society of Zoologists, an award recognizing excellence in scientific research and communication by a student.
After completing her doctoral studies, Jill worked with a start-up technology company in Cambridge, UK, and later returned to Canada to work as a policy analyst in the Public Service of Canada, first at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and then at the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
Jill now works in the field of healthcare, as the owner and director of the Toronto West location of Retire-At-Home Services (www.RAHtoronto.com), providing in-home support and care for senior citizens.
Since her time in Africa, Jill has also been actively involved in charitable work for East African causes.
She lives in Toronto with her husband and three children
Lucia Lecuna
Lecuna is a Venezuelan journalist, with over 10 years of experience as a communications and PR advisor. Her recent work has been focused in health and wellness but also on non verbal communication, multicultural networking and negotiation. As a newcomer in Canada, Lucia obtained her certifications as a Fitness Instructor Specialist, STOTT PILATES and Zumba Fitness Instructor, enjoying her passion for movement and health.
Being aware of the actual human search for a longer and healthier life, have motivated her to share information on what’s new and how to include healthy habits into our everyday routines. Mind and body focus, but also adapting to the real world, where work hours and fast paced information technology is accelerating the human race towards a virtual existence, have made her understand that each person need different approach and more options to a healthier lifestyle.
Lucia enjoys watching and listening on how younger generations adapt, understand and communicate in the world with different perspectives.
Lucia is a volunteer Communications Advisor to the Board of Directors from the Spanish Speaking Education Network. She also volunteers for the Canadian Women’s League, and Halton Alive.
Manuelito Astudillo
Born in Cuenca-Ecuador on May 23 1991, Manuela Astudillo is the active Music Coordinator for CHHA 1610 AM Radio Voces Latinas, the first Hispanic Radio Station in Canada. She is a spoken word Poet and has also performed and taught for Dance to Live Studio in Toronto, Canada.
As a single parent she is currently continuing her education in Humber College for the Broadcasting program.
Joselyn Urbina
Urbina was born in Ecuador and raised in Toronto. She is fluent in both English and Spanish, having learned both languages at the same time. She is an undergraduate student in the Community Development and Policy Studies program at UOIT, and I will be graduating in April 2016. My specialization is in health and education policies and with this I hope to pursue my Masters degree in Public Policy, as well as a Ph.D.
What I plan to achieve with my studies is the ability to help both local and international communities in analyzing and reforming health and education policies so that social benefits and resources can be more accessible to those that need it the most.
Oscar Aguilar
Aguilar is a PhD candidate in the department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. He completed his Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry at Carleton University in 2007, and shortly after completed his Masters in Science in 2009. His Masters research focused on studying the mechanisms by which animals adapt to extreme environments in the hopes to translate this knowledge to human applications.
His current PhD work involves studying how viruses interact with our immune system, in particular understanding these evolutionary relationships and how we can gain therapeutics from them. A native of El Salvador, he has always maintained the importance of working with his community, and advocating for equity in education.
He served as a member of SALO, a tutoring/mentoring program for marginalized youth, and has advocated for science literacy along with a science outreach program Let’s Talk Science.
Andrea Vásquez Jiménez
I was born in North York, Ontario to Colombian parents. After completing high school, I earned a diploma from Centennial College for the Community and Justice Service program and subsequently I attended and earned a degree from York University for the Law and Society program.
Currently, I am employed with Legal Aid Ontario as a Client Service Specialist with the Client and Lawyer Support Centre where access to justice and legal assistance is provided to low-income Ontarioans via a range of services.
Manuelito Astudillo
Born in Cuenca-Ecuador on May 23 1991, Manuela Astudillo is the active Music Coordinator for CHHA 1610 AM Radio Voces Latinas, the first Hispanic Radio Station in Canada. She is a spoken word Poet and has also performed and taught for Dance to Live Studio in Toronto, Canada.
As a single parent she is currently continuing her education in Humber College for the Broadcasting program.
Deicy Martinez Ochoa
Colombian teacher with a degree in Physical Education, Recreation and Sport, also a soccer coach with more than five years of experience in those areas. I am a new comer to Canada with a strong interest in continuing her education and learning. When I first arrived to Canada in 2014, I became a part of the volunteers for SSEN and participated in the 6th Congress of Education which was held at the University of Toronto. It was a great opportunity for me to meet people and to learn about the Latino community in Toronto. I was able to interact with different people and share new ideas with them. I was able to work with people that contributed a lot to the community and this was my greatest learning experience because I was able to learn about the competitive systems found within Canada’s structure.
Fernando Monge-Loría
Monge-Loría was born in Montreal to Costa Rican parents and grew up primarily in Toronto. From 2010-2014 I completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, majoring in Latin American Studies and History and minoring in Philosophy. Since 2014, I have been studying towards a Juris Doctor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law and expect to complete my degree in 2017. Outside of the classroom, I am often to be found in close proximity to a soccer ball, whether playing on a field or watching on TV.