The
Ontario Flower Growers Co-operative recently held its 17th annual student
floral design competition at its Mississauga headquarters. As has been
the case in recent years, the student team from Conestoga’s Retail
Florist program did exceedingly well, earning three of the six medals
awarded in the competition which also included teams from Algonquin, Mohawk
and Seneca colleges.
Awards went to first- , second- and third-place entrants in two categories - bridal and theme - tied to the overall event theme, Royal Wedding. In each event, each competing student received the same assortment of flowers and materials, and each event was timed, with a maximum of two hours allowed to create and complete the product.
Conestoga’s three award winners are: Anissa Nashkewa of Southampton, who won first place in the bridal category; Johanna Tracy-Monckton of Guelph, who finished second in bridal; and Tiphavanh Thadara of Waterloo, who took third in the theme event.
Since first entering competitions in 2002, Retail Florist students from Conestoga have never failed to bring home at least one award.
Also
participating as members of Conestoga's delegation were students Dianne
Carter of Guelph in the bridal event, and Anne Liesemer of Maryhill and
Rose Takacs of Cambridge in the theme event. Alternate team members were
Monique Neubert of Cambridge and Carol Payne of Kitchener.
Retail Florist is a part-time program that combines floral knowledge with design and business skills. It features six required courses, one elective and two periods of workplace experience.
The Ontario Flower Growers Co-operative includes more than 100 greenhouses and field flower growers from throughout Ontario. It was established in 1972 by local growers in order to be able to market and sell their products more effectively.
Dorina Idvorian, who coordinates the Retail Florist program, comments, “I am very proud of the success that our students achieve in competitions. We work hard, but the learning is most valuable in these kinds of situations. I am very grateful to the Ontario Flower Growers Co-operative for supporting the growth of our students, who improve themselves and who eventually will help improve the floral industry.”
CONTACT: Gillian Oldfield, 519-748-5220, ext. 3634, goldfield@conestogac.on.ca