Seven projects. Seven national honours. One very talented OCSB Communications Team! The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) Communications Team has plenty to celebrate after receiving an Award of Distinction and six Coup de Cœur recognitions at the 2026 Canadian Association of Communicators in Education (CACE) BRAVO Awards.
From creating original branding and producing videos to developing communications campaigns that reach staff and families and celebrate student achievements, the team brings a wide range of skills to its work. These awards recognize the thought, creativity and hard work behind projects that help share what's happening across our schools and support the OCSB community.
Telling Stories That Matter
The team received an Award of Distinction for Rebuilding Wheels, Rebuilding Lives: Launching a New Skilled Trades Pathway Through Storytelling, a nine-month communications campaign introducing the OCSB's new Automotive Service Technician pathway through the Elite Skilled Trades Academy (ESTA).
With no graduates or previous success stories to draw on, the Communications Team built the campaign from the ground up. They created the Rebuilding Wheels, Rebuilding Lives brand, developing an original visual identity and consistent messaging that brought together promotional materials, feature stories, photography, video and social media. At the centre of the campaign was the story of students restoring a donated vehicle for a local family facing transportation challenges, showing what students were learning and how their skills could make a difference in someone's life.
Every element, from the branding and graphic design to the writing, photography and video production, was developed in-house without paid advertising or outside agencies. And the results speak for themselves. Applications increased from 15 in the initial recruitment period to 65 in the following period, while the feature story and video attracted more than 37,000 views combined. The materials continue to support student recruitment, making this award a particularly meaningful recognition of the team's work.
Six More Reasons to Celebrate
And the recognition didn't stop there! Six additional OCSB Communications projects earned Coup de Cœur recognition, highlighting the different talents and skills within the team.
The recognized projects were:
- SEAC Logo Redesign: A Symbol of Support and Belonging
- Digital Accessibility Guidelines: Making OCSB Communications Clearer, Fairer, and Easier to Access
- Making Waves of Joy
- Finding His Purpose Video
- Honouring Culture: A Video Celebrating Indigenous Voice at the OCSB
- The Ocean Starts Here: Our Connections to the Oceans
From original branding and graphic design to video production, accessibility and storytelling, these projects represent countless hours of planning, creative thinking and hard work. Each presented different challenges, and each gave the team an opportunity to use its skills in ways that support our students, staff, families and schools.
Having six additional projects recognized alongside the Award of Distinction is an accomplishment the team can be proud of. It also speaks to the variety of work handled by the Communications Team and the attention given to getting each project right.
A Team Effort Worth Celebrating
Behind these seven honours are people who care about their work, take pride in what they do and genuinely enjoy telling the stories of our OCSB community. Their success also reflects the relationships they have built with students, staff, schools, departments and community partners who contribute to these projects.
The recognized work reflects our Strategic Commitments to Be Community, Be Well and Be Innovative. Whether it's making information more accessible, creating a new brand or sharing stories of student learning and community service, these projects show those commitments in action.
Congratulations to the entire OCSB Communications Team! Seven national honours are a remarkable achievement and a wonderful reason for our whole OCSB community to celebrate.
