John O'Fee on Facebook John O'Fee
Schools & Public Education
Artificial Intelligence in Schools
The AI genie is "out of the bottle" so to speak. Like any new technology, it will not be a static or specific thing. Ensuring our students can use AI effectively while also understanding its limitations will be a critical skill moving forward.
Childcare
School facilities can be natural places for childcare facilities and can be built to accommodate the needs of parents with both pre-school and school-aged children. Our district has a history of collaborating with childcare providers and I would work to see this continue and expand.
Media Literacy & Critical Thinking
The difficulty used to be in finding information on a topic. The challenge today is understanding how to filter the enormous amounts of information one receives and apply critical thinking skills to objectively find solutions.
Social media platforms feed an algorithm designed to keep users on a site versus inform them with objectively sourced facts. This leads to factionalization and in some cases, radicalization. Understanding the objective of social media platforms and using technology in productive ways is a critical skill for our students.
Biography
Growing up in Kamloops in a large, working class family, I realized that education could be a gateway to a meaningful and rewarding career. To acheive that end, I worked on oil and gas rigs, coal mines, sawmills and restaurants and ultimately pursued a career in law. That led to a position teaching business law at TRU.
Throughout my career journey I have dedicated some of my time to public service. This has included serving on the Thompson Rivers University Foundation, the Health Professions Review Board, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committe, the Provincial Health Services Authority and the Interior Health Authority.
In addition, I also served in elected roles both at the school board and the city council level. I understand that an effective board needs members to collaborate and rally around a shared vision. This is the only way a board can accomplish its goals.
I have been privileged to work with many community-minded people and together we have successfully accomplished community building projects. This would include Juniper Ridge, McGowan Park, Snine and the recently rebuilt Parkcrest elementary schools. It would also include a major expansion of Valleyview Secondary School.
On a civic level, I have been involved in the building of our water treatment plant, the Tournament Capital Center, the Expansion of facilities at McArthur Island, the Kamloops Airport Expansion project, the renovated emergency room at Royal Inland Hospital and I was Interior Health Board chair when we secured the funding for and announced the construction of the Gagalard Tower at RIH.
None of these projects are the product of a single individual and there is a lot of credit to be shared with many people. However, this record should inform a voter that I have the ability to be an effective team player who seeks to improve our community in any way possible.
Reason for running
My view is that one doesn't elect individual trustees. Rather, an informed voter should draft the team that they feel will best represent the interests of education as we move into a changing economy.
Each trustee brings their perpective and the board can, working with our staff, build a strategy to ensure we are meeting educational goals in a fiscally responsible manner.