So, this is me (Melissa) with Dilly, a dilophosaurus. You may remember him from the terrifying scene in Jurassic Park that involves a Jeep, torrential rain, and an unsuspecting Newman from Seinfeld. I volunteer with an organization called Science Timmins, where I help promote Science in schools in Timmins, Ontario. We will be opening a brand new Science Village September 2015, where Dilly, among other animatronic dinos, will be part of the launch.

I’m an Educational Technology specialist for my Board, and have been since January of this year. We are officially “going Google”, and a big part of my job right now is to help ease this transition, and launch this initiative Board-wide. We are procuring Chromebooks for students from Gr. 3 – 10 (some grades 1:1, others will have a class lab of 12), and this will be a beast in and of itself, as this is the first time our Board has deployed and used Chromebooks. I also collaborate on a website called the digital Human Library, and I’m developing an Arts platform. The website connects teachers with experts across all disciplines/subject areas, and works to connect students (especially from rural areas) with experts from across Canada and the US. I’m working to recruit artists of all mediums.

Outside of ed tech, I like to play volleyball, run, draw, sing, and I listen to music all the time. I’ll be spending a month in Vancouver this summer visiting my sister and brother-in-law, and looking forward to running the seawall every chance I get!