ACCC’s annual Awards of Excellence celebrate extraordinary contributions of individuals to their colleges and highlight the role colleges play in the social, cultural and economic development of the communities they serve.

Vice President Academic Cheryl Jensen received the Silver award for Leadership Excellence. Cheryl was the driving force behind many Mohawk success stories, including the launch of Canada’s first Bachelor of Technology Program in collaboration with McMaster University, the creation of the award-winning Hydro One – College Consortium and the $27 million transformation of Mohawk’s skilled trades campus in Stoney Creek. Cheryl is very active in the community serving on various boards and foundations, and she’s currently working with public, private and non-profit sector partners on a project aimed at promoting postsecondary education to at-risk youth in high-need neighbourhoods. 

Alan Griffiths, Mohawk’s sustainable environment specialist, received the Silver Staff Excellence Award. Alan is responsible for Mohawk’s green initiatives, including taking the lead role in the development of the College’s first comprehensive environmental management plan. The plan commits Mohawk to a 20 per cent reduction of 2007 baseline carbon emissions by 2020, and includes strategies achieve reductions in eight target areas. Alan is also very active in the local sustainability movement, representing Mohawk on city-wide initiatives aimed at improving access to alternative transportation and helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

Jef Petrossi is a creative advertising professor in Mohawk's Advertising Advanced Diploma program and this year's recipient of the Bronze ACCC Teaching Excellence Award. An award-winning writer that has worked at some of the world's leading advertising agencies, Jef knows what it takes to be successful and works hard to make his students stand out in an extremely competitive industry. Since joining Mohawk four years ago, Jef's students have won numerous awards at prestigious national and international competitions including the CMA's national awards, the Ad and Design Club of Canada's national awards and Applied Arts Magazine advertising awards show. Some of Jef’s former students have gone to work for North America’s best agencies such as BBDO, Taxi2, Saatchi & Saatchi, Proximity, Ogilvy and Lowe Roche.

ACCC is the national organization that represents colleges and institutes at the national and international level. For more information visit www.accc.ca.

Applied Arts Magazine and the Ad and Design Club of Canada (ADCC) have announced that Mohawk Advertising will have seven winning submissions in the upcoming Applied Arts Student awards annual, and six finalists in the upcoming ADCC annual awards. 

“This is incredible for our program," says creative professor Jef Petrossi. "Both of these advertising annuals are incredibly difficult to get into,” he added. “Last year the ADCC had seven finalists in total from across the country in the advertising category. Mohawk was one of them. Having six finalists this year is a significant accomplishment.”

The annual ADCC Awards have been recognizing excellence in advertising since 1949. The awards ceremony is widely recognized as Canada’s premiere advertising and design awards show. Winners are chosen by a panel of international judges.  Applied Arts accepts entries from across North America. It’s one of the most challenging competitions, attracting competitors from well-known advertising schools, including the Miami Ad School.

“Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists,” said Jane Cooper, Associate Dean, School of Business. “Mohawk’s Advertising program has a history of graduating award-winning students who go on to achieve success in their field. We’re proud of these students and we’re proud to have excellent faculty who make these achievements possible.”

Three of the 16 students, Sarah Quinto, Mikhail Ferrara, and Curtis Denomme were in their first year when they created their work. Below is a complete list of the winning students along with the client the work was created for:

Applied Arts Magazine Award Winners:
Kelly Finnamore and Emma Wathan, Oxfam
Natalie Mathers, Discovery Channel
Ryan Speziale, Margaret Cameron, Matt Mantle, BC Worksafe
Mikhail Ferrara, Ikea
Mario Gelleny and Shawn O’Connor, Doc Martins
Sandy Aquino, Sean Simons and Jesse Dougan BC Hydro
Corey Lepp, Airhogs

ADCC Finalists:
Kelly Finnamore and Emma Wathan, Oxfam
Emma Wathan, Clear Blue
Ryan Chiasson and Mario Gelleny, Wingfest
Sara Quinto and Curtis Denomme,  Bass Pro Mills
Mikhail Ferrara, Ikea
Sandy Aquino, Sean Simons and Jesse Dougan, BC Hydro

Of the 16 students some have gone to start careers in the advertising industry. Kelly Finnamore is now a writer at Saatchi. Emma Wathan is now an art director at Grip. Ryan Chiasson is now a writer at BBDO.
Mario Gelleny is interning with Maclaren and Shawn O’Connor recently interned with Grip.

The ADDC awards will be held on Nov. 3, 2011 in Toronto. The grand-prize winners will be announced that night and receive a cheque for $1,000. This year, there are a total of 27 finalists made up from several categories including interactive media, graphic design, animation, and editorial design, in addition to advertising. The Applied Arts student annual is released in November. All seven of Mohawk’s winners will be showcased in the book.