CO-OP STUDENTS: Win Cool Prizes in Cool Co-op Contest

Learning and earning are the usual rewards for a University of Cincinnati co-op student.

And now, cool prizes too – all thanks to the ongoing

“Cool Co-op” Contest.

Entries are being accepted online

through March 31, 2009

.

Co-op, or

cooperative education

, is where students alternate quarters or semesters in the classroom with quarters or semesters of paid, professional work related directly to their majors. UC invented co-op in 1906 and houses the state’s largest co-op program – and the largest co-op program at any public institution in the United States.

This year, UC’s annual “Cool Co-op” Contest is now a statewide contest, in cooperation with the Ohio Cooperative Education Association. Students from 12 participating OCEA member institutions are eligible to enter the contest and win.

UC students who have already entered the 2009 contest are

• Business student Daniel Larsen, who co-opped with NBC Universal, meeting stars like Courtney Cox, Felicity Huff and Justin Timberlake. Larsen was even called on stage by Jay Leno for an interview while Leno warmed up the crowd before a taping of “The Tonight Show.”

• Engineering student Scott Mindel, who worked on spacecraft re-entry simulations while on co-op in Brussels, Belgium, and was able to travel to cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Munich, Paris and Venice.

• Architecture student Tamar Pentelnik, who worked at The Buchan Group, the oldest architecture firm in Perth, Australia. She was able to travel throughout Australia and contribute to ongoing design projects.

• Design student Stefan Martin, who was on a co-op at General Electric in Louisville, Ky., when a Wall Street Journal reporter visited to investigate universal design principles. Martin was interviewed and videotaped while taking the “empathy test” – wearing glasses simulating glaucoma- and cataract-related vision problems, wrapping his joints to simulate arthritis, putting popcorn kernels in his shoes to simulate foot discomfort and more. That video then appeared on The Wall Street Journal’s site and elsewhere.

Other students worked on pioneering NASA projects with former astronauts, traveled globally while working for Delta, and designed (and tested) sports equipment while working and living in the French Alps.

HOW TO ENTER

ENTER

the

2009 Cool Co-op Contest

.

If you as a co-op student have any trouble entering your text and photos or cannot recall the contest site login name and password already e-mailed to you, send a quick e-mail to

contest@ohioscoolestcoops.com

WHAT YOU CAN WIN

Winning students will receive prizes worth at least $100 – such as portable DVD players, MP3 players, digital cameras, $100-value Visa gift cards and more.

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

• University of Cincinnati
• University of Akron 
• Bowling Green State University 
• Case Western Reserve University 
• Cincinnati State Technical and Community College 
• University of Dayton 
• Defiance College 
• College of Mount St. Joseph 
• Ohio Northern University 
• Ohio State University 
• Wright State University 
• Xavier University
  

MORE ABOUT CO-OP

Cooperative education, or co-op as it’s commonly called, is where students alternate quarters or semesters in the classroom with quarters or semesters of paid, professional work related directly to their majors.

• UC’s co-op program is ranked among the nation’s Top Ten program by U.S. News & World Report.

• UC’s co-op program is the largest at any public university in the United States.

• In the current 2008-2009 year, UC students are expected to co-op and to earn a collective $37 million.

• Read more background on co-op.
• Visit UC’s Professional Practice Web site. 
• Apply to UC.