District of Clearwater should help pay to bring Dr. Jason Ohler to Clearwater to talk about digital literacy, Shelley Sim told town council during its Feb. 1 meeting.
“I would like council to join other community groups in bringing this speaker to Clearwater,” she said. “His message is for everyone and I see council demonstrating citizen engagement as a driver of educational success on many levels and directed to corners far and wide within our community.”
Ohler’s recent book Digital Citizenship and the Re-imagination of Education has been well received across North America, she reported. His current book, Digital Storytelling in the Classroom, reminds us that he is first and foremost a storyteller, Sim added.
Sim said she made her presentation on behalf of the Clearwater Secondary School PAC, Raft River Elementary students, parents and the community. As with all such presentations, council took the matter under advisement for a possible decision at its next meeting.
Sim achieved more immediate results during last Tuesday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting. There, chamber members approved contributing $300 towards Dr. Ohler’s visit.
Total cost of the visit should be about $4,700, Sim told them. She said after the meeting that any surplus would go towards technology investments within the school.
Ohler is scheduled to give a keynote speech in Clearwater on Wednesday evening, Feb. 23. Admission will be $5 at the door. This will be followed by a seminar presented Thursday morning, Feb. 24.