CATT Coordinators - January 2010

Happy New Year

Here we are, almost a decade into the new millennium already. How time flies! Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable holiday and much deserved break. If you didn’t run a course this term and are running one next term, visit the CATT website to examine the curriculum and explore resources that might help with your lesson plans.

 "While completing my work experience hours throughout the community, I have been able to see many different areas of the industry. Each placement has given me the chance to work with different groups of people and learn many different tasks. I have become very interested and determined to pursue a career in this area. I have become a lot more involved within the community." - Alana Pearson, Highland Secondary School, Cornox, B.C. 

Welcome New Schools

As always we would like to welcome some new schools on board! To everyone who is new to the program we are more than happy to welcome you to the CATT community. Please feel free to explore the CATT website and introduce yourself to the group. The last three schools to join were: Ducan MacMillan High School in Nova Scotia; Strait Area Education Recreation Centre in Nova Scotia; and Walnut Grove Secondary in British Columbia.

What is going on with YOUR program?

If you haven’t submitted your Mid Year Progress Report, please take a quick minute to fill out the on-line form and submit it. It’s just a few simple questions providing numbers and an insight into how your CATT program is doing, identifying highlights and successes to be acknowledged. It is important for the CATT program as a whole to be able to report on the scope of the entire program for the National Partners and stakeholders. If you have any questions feel free to ask us.

Program Update

Autumn was busy with the addition of 13 new schools joining the CATT program. This makes a total of 16 Gold programs running, 34 Level II, and 84 Level I programs nationwide. The 2008-09 school year saw 400 certificates awarded to CATT students for an impressive 2,676 to date!Since the dissolution of CATT as a Charitable Foundation in 2008, and after careful consideration of the notes taken from the February 2008 meetings, it was recommended that two new CATT advisory committees be formed.

Annual CATT Conference

Once again the Annual CATT conference was a success. This is an annual professional development event held each year in November. The Delta Centre-Ville in Montreal provided an excellent venue, both in terms of space and hospitality.

The first two days of the conference allowed teachers to share what was happening in their schools across the country with their peers. There were also presentations from members of the CTHRC staff on emerit training available, and research accessible to CATT teachers for free.

As with previous years the CATT Conference was held the two days before the CTHRC HR forum and CATT teachers were also invited to attend the premier Tourism HR event in Canada. This interaction provides valuable information for teachers as they were able to gain a glimpse into current HR trends in the tourism industry and bring valuable information back to their classrooms.

Keep an eye out for upcoming information on next year’s conference in Alberta!

CATT Certificates

For anyone who is reviewing certificate eligibility you can now submit certificate requests online. If you require clarification about what may qualify a student for his/her certificate, please do not hesitate to ask.  As soon as you have compiled a list of eligible students from the course, click here to submit your request for certificate. Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing. The last day to submit for the 2009-2010 school year will be June 10th.

Canadian Tourism Commission and CATT Best Practices Educator Award

This year we were please to present the Best Practices Educator Award to Germain Landry of St. Mary’s Secondary School in Cobourg Ontario. This is a well deserved reward for an educator that has been around the CATT table for a number of years. Germain’s dedication to providing quality experiential learning experiences to his students is just one of the many reasons this award was presented to him. Shortly, an interview with Germain about what he has done with his CATT program and how is CATT program has benefited the local tourism industry will be made available on the CATT website. Congratulations Germain on all of your accomplishments!

 Please make note that the CATT Teacher’s Conference will be in November 12th-14th , 2010 in Alberta. More details will be made available closer to the date – SEE YOU THERE!!

CATT Student Conference

Any of you who attended the CATT Teacher Conference in Montreal in November were given an early copy of the CATT Student Conference Package. The registration package should have already arrived in your inbox. If you haven’t received it please download it from the website. The deadline for registration is February 28th . We hope to see as many students as possible May 13-16th in Saskatoon.

Global Travel & Tourism Partnership

Nicole Branston and Sarah Moore of Ontario traveled with their teacher to Nice, France to participate in the annual Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP) Student/Teacher Conference.

CATT is the Canadian member of GTTP’s Travel and Tourism Programs. The GTTP is a multi-country educational program meant to introduce students to career opportunities in travel and tourism. There are currently ten participating countries.

A case study competition is held each year for member countries. Selected student/teacher teams are then invited to GTTP’s annual conference in Nice to discuss issues regarding tourism in their countries and at large. Delegates also experience the unforgettable opportunity of interacting with other tourism enthusiasts from all over the world.

An endowment established in honour of Aldo Papone, former president of American Express Travel Related Services Company, helps fund the competition. Much of the sightseeing and accommodation costs are funded by global partners.

This year, students were asked to submit a case study related to ‘Sports Tourism’. The Canadian team chose to explore the impact on the proximity of the Niagara Falls to the sports tourism industry of the smaller town of St. Catherines. This case study, along with those from other participants, will be shared with student delegates from around the globe.

Please check out the GTTP Opportunities part of the CATT website for more information on the 2010 competitions.

If you did not attend the CATT Teachers conference in Montreal you should have already received a survey designed to collect information to help us move forward and provide the best professional development material and opportunities we can related to tourism education in high schools. If you haven’t received the survey, please let us know.

News From Link BC

Unfortunately due the the 2010 Olympic games in BC this year there will be BC Tourism Educators Conference. However, 2011 information be will distributed to the CATT audience as soon as it available.

You may want to check out is Link BC’s newest online resource with Games-related tools. It’s aimed at post-secondary but the 2010 Today Discussion starters can be used in the secondary school classroom. www.elegacies.ca/2010.

Also the tourism online resource centre www.bctorc.ca has just gone through an overhaul; CATT teachers may be interested in passing along the link to their students. It also has a “Canadian” URL as well: www.torc-ttracanada.ca .

Important Upcoming Dates

March 30th, 2010– Deadline for GTTP Travel Writing Competition
May 13 – 16th, 2010 – CATT Student Conference – Saskatoon
May 20th 2010 – Second semester reports due
June 10th, 2010 – Deadline for Certificate Requests for June 2010
November 12th-14th , 2010 – CATT Teacher Conference - Alberta

Events at Your School!

We need to celebrate all of the amazing things that are happening with the CATT students at your schools. If you have an event, we want to hear about it – no matter how big or small it is we want to let the CATT community know. We know there is not a lot of time to tell us about everything that happens with your busy programs, but if everyone could choose to share one item or event we would have a huge collection of happenings right across the country! If you are holding a food safety course for your students – we want to hear about it! If you are providing an opportunity for your students to interact with staff at a local hotel – we want to hear about it! If your students are preparing a thank you dinner for partners and the community – we want to hear about it!

Please email us indicating the items below.

Event Name:
Short Event Description:
Partners Involved:
Date:
School:
Province:
For more information:

Contact Us

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