Media.Knet.Ca

The Hon. James K. Bartleman, Ontario's 27th Lieutenant Governor visited Keewaytinook Okimakanak in Balmertown to learn about the Keewaytinook Internet High School and the KO Telehealth initiative. Click here to visit his web site. NAN's Grand Chief Stan Beardy and Red Lake's Major Duncan Wilson joined the Lieutenant Governor during the session.

The visit included a feast hosted by Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff and video conference sessions with First Nation schools and health centres. Click here to view the photo gallery of the visit.

One of His Honours’ goals while in office is to help establish a library in the Aboriginal communities and he asked the students and staff from Fort Severn, Deer Lake, Keewaywin, and North Spirit Lake, how a library would benefit them. Some of the communities have a library already, but were quick to indicate that any additional library resources would be very beneficial and useful to students in northern communities. They look forward to the Lieutenant Governor's support with this in the future.

Each of the above four communities was able to connect with Balmertown and participate in the presentation via video conference. An overview of KiHS was given and then a connection was made to the web site and His Honour was shown how a student would access his/her courses and submit them during a typical school day. The session was very informative and KO was able to successfully demonstrate once again how it was a leading force in the area for an innovative educational experience in our region and even beyond. There were several questions asked as students and staff discussed the Lieutenant Governor’s roles and responsibilities.

The Lieutenant Governor is interested in connecting with as many First Nation communities as possible across Ontario. Keewaytinook Okimakanak hopes that follow up video conferencing sessions can be facilitated to share more information among the First Nation schools and communities across the province.