Halton Area
Moving east from Kitchener-Waterloo, the next area to inform us of their CYC Week celebrations was Halton (Oakville area).  There the Halton Catholic District School Board through their Chief Social Worker, Theresa Wilson provided each child and youth worker with a small gift featuring the OACYC logo. 
At Halton Healthcare Services the front page of their weekly newsletter carried a notice about CYC Week and invited hospital staff to find out more about CYCs by visiting the display in the Oakville-Trafalgar Hospital lobby; it is pictured above.  On hand to answer questions were two CYCs, Claire McBurney (far right in the photo) and Paula Doherty Barrett (along with Brad Aljoe, a child and youth worker).  As Claire tells us, "The display board had information on the profession itself, our educational background, our role with Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and information about the OACYC."
The trio also handed out "candy and beaded bracelets made by our patients.  We also had a free giveaway of children's books to further promote our presence in the hospital."  Claire says that, "This day was well received by all professions within the hospital and proved to be such a success that we plan to increase our time in the lobby next year."

Toronto
We've already mentioned George Hull in Toronto but that wasn't the only centre to celebrate CYC Week.  Thistletown, the birthplace of both the profession and the OACYC, was definitely in on the action as well.  And they managed to bring two Thistletown grads from the very first graduating class out of retirement to speak at their celebration -- Arthur Bickerton and Les Webber.  Arthur is also the OACYC's founding member and Les our fist President.  A former Thistletown staff, OACYC Vice-President Keith Lindsay was also on hand to speak. 

The event and a front-lobby display were all thanks to the initiative of OACYC member Alethia Cadore.  However, the Week got off to a good start thanks to Thistletown Administrator Gail Gonda who posted a very informative piece about the OACYC and the profession on the Ministry of Community and Social Services' intranet. In it, Gail outlined our beginnings as a professional association and our present status as "the largest such professional body in North America."  She also mentioned that CYCs in Ontario come from "the largest integrated system of child and youth counsellor training in North America … [and that] this group of professionals represents by far the largest single group of clinicians in the facility who work with children, youth, adults and families on a day-to-day basis."

The biggest celebration of CYC Week in Toronto took place at the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) in downtown Toronto.  The initiative came from OACYC member Wayne Walker, Clinical Coordinator of Adolescent Medicine/Psychiatry.  He was assisted by a Steering Committee that included Michelle Polsinelli-Tavares, Enza Badolato, Paul Pereira, Natalie Stelmach, and Elaine Walker.

In preparation for the Week, posters supplied by the OACYC Provincial Office were put up around the hospital in the preceding week.  Advance notice was also carried in the HSC newsletter.  Throughout the week special events took place at noon and a booth was set up in the Cafe area for the entire week (see photo of Wayne at display, right).  On Friday, former OACYC Toronto Branch Executive Kathi Lees was also at the booth.  And to cap a very successful Week, special arrangements were made to have the entire CYC staff off shift for a CYC night out (their shifts to be covered by the RN staff).

Wayne and the CYCs at Hospital for Sick Children have a lot to celebrate.  There is the fact that "CYC week has been a success, lots of positive feedback, lots of information-seeking on the profession and the Association" as Wayne says.  But the initiative of the CYCs at Sick Kids goes well beyond their work setting, to the entire profession.  They have provided an example to others of how to gain recognition for the profession through their CYC Week.  They have also provided a model of professionalism in the workplace by requiring all child and youth staff (a total of 41!) to be members of their professional association, with the structural/bureaucratic supports to maintain this standard.

Eastern Ontario
Moving eastward from Toronto during CYC Week there were two CASs and another hospital that got into the action.  In Belleville, the Hastings CAS displayed the OACYC poster for CYC Week and hosted a couple of recognition events for their CYC and child and youth worker staff.  Posters also went up at the CAS in Kingston.  As well, the OACYC Kingston Committee distributed notices and posters to child and youth agencies in the Kingston and Brockville areas.

But the big news in eastern Ontario is from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).  This is the hospital we told you about a year ago (Aug '03 Chronicle).  At that time, they had more than doubled the number of Professional CYCs on staff and the number keeps growing (22 at last count).  This alone would be reason to celebrate CYC Week but CHEO had another reason as well.  This was the 30^th Anniversary of the Hospital … and CYCs were employed there from the day it opened!

But as Mike Wattie's posting on CHEO-Net about CYC Week pointed out, since that time CYCs have greatly expanded their roles (from the original inpatient mental health unit) throughout the hospital.  Ghyslaine Paquette, who presented at our Kingston Conference, for instance, is with the Eating Disorders Program.   Mike himself has been with Centralized Intake, and CHEO's move to professionalize the child and youth worker staff has been through his initiative.  And on the topic of initiative, a recent Algonquin grad, Lisa Clarke, should also be mentioned.  It was through Lisa that the OACYC posters for CYC Week were developed for CHEO and placed throughout the hospital.  On the Thursday, the hospital itself responded to the Week with a free lunch for all the CYC and child and youth worker staff.

Northern Ontario
CYCs in Sudbury, at Northeast Mental Health Centre, and in Thunder Bay also got in on CYC Week celebrations.  In Thunder Bay, the OACYC Committee there hosted a barbeque for area CYCs and child and youth workers.  So, by the time CYC Week was over, the celebration had covered the province from the far northwest to the extreme southeast.  And this was only our first year for having a set week for events.  Wait till next year when everyone's more used to the first full week in June being CYC Week.  In the meantime, we hope you got some ideas from this review for your own celebration in 2005.