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Attention News/Business/Technology Editors:

Canada's IT community recognizes its Canadian IT Heroes

 TORONTO, May 25 /CNW/ - As part of Canada's IT Week celebrations, the
Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), in conjunction with
Industry Canada, created the Community IT Hero Award to recognize individuals
who have assisted their communities in a significant way through the use or
application of information technology (IT).
 This awards program had the grassroots objective of getting communities
involved in IT Week, by identifying and selecting heroes who have made a
significant difference in the lives of people in their communities. The
selection committee consisted of people from communities all across Canada.
 Award recipients range from teachers and students to businesses and
community volunteers. All have contributed countless hours, expertise,
knowledge and dedication, in promoting the use of IT. Here follows a list of
Canada's IT Heroes:
 
 Innovatia Inc. - Saint John, New Brunswick
 For innovation, creating development opportunities, employment and
 access for the Greater Saint John community via the Living Lab.
 
 Jim Haywood - Principal, Inglis Street Elementary School, Halifax,
 Nova Scotia
 Jim is recognized for setting up a website for the school, promoting
 interaction between parents and students and upgrading the school's
 technology.
 
 John Ehinger - Teacher, Agassiz Adult Education Centre, Beausejour,
 Manitoba
 Teacher, mentor, computer lab administrator, community activist,
 technology trainer
 
 Knowledge Industry Task Force (KITF) - Fredericton, New Brunswick
 An important industry organization in New Brunswick. KITF has been
 effective in increasing the profile of the Greater Fredericton area
 with an enviable reputation as a key IT cluster or technology boomtown.
 Attracting business and investment into the community has been a major
 achievement.
 
 Llyod Roche - Computer consultant, Evergreen School Division, Gimli,
 Manitoba
 The main driver of increased technology and better infrastructure
 at Evergreen School Division; recipient of the Prime Minister's award
 and one from Nortel for his innovative work.
 
 Mary Graham - Librarian, Hapnot Collegiate, Flin Flon, Manitoba
 For her services to children and young adults and the Hapnot Collegiate
 web magazine, Error in File.
 
 Linda Cobham - Teacher, M Gerald Teed Elementary School, Saint John, NB
 For nearly 20 years, Linda has integrated technology in her teaching and
 actively helped other teachers to do the same.
 
 Merv Tullock - Teacher/IT coordinator, Rankin Inlet
 Teacher, mentor, volunteer of time and knowledge in encouraging the
 integration of IT in the classroom.
 
 Mike Cummings - Teacher, Grade 6 Inglis Street Elementary School Halifax,
 NS
 For promoting technology and its application in the classroom.
 
 Mike Kusyk - Teacher, Dr. F.W.L Hamilton School, Winnipeg
 Developed and expanded the school's website to incorporate better,
 interactive learning. Projects such as the Spaghetti Bridge Contests
 were supported by IT tools educating on bridge strength and construction,
 making for fun, interactive learning experiences.
 
 NB Easter Seals March of Dimes - Fredericton, NB
 Delivery agent for the program called Volnet, which puts technology,
 tech training and Internet use in the hands of volunteer agencies
 throughout the province.
 
 Norman Lee - Volunteer, Aboriginal Community Cyber Centre, Winnipeg
 For donating hundreds of hours of IT expertise to help the Aboriginal
 community of Winnipeg bridge the digital divide. His efforts have helped
 improve literacy, skills, access, employment, youth training and self
 esteem.
 
 Orin Durey - Teacher, Amitnaaq School, Baker Lake, Nunavut
 A teacher of Northern Studies, Durey maintains the network and access
 for the school.
 
 Pam Candlish - webmaster, Kenilworth, Ontario
 Author of Not Deaf Enough, Candlish spent two years putting information
 on www.hardofhearingchildren.com for anyone interested in hard of hearing
 and moderate hearing loss issues.
 
 Paul Doyle - Teacher, Vincent Massey Collegiate, Winnipeg
 For driving every technological initiative at the Collegiate and
 promoting classroom instruction with the use of technology. Pioneered
 online course development and one of his students was first prize winner
 in the Canadian Home Page Olympics.
 
 Richard Korotash - Teacher, Hapnot Collegiate, Flin Flon, Manitoba
 The Hapnot Collegiate web magazine, Error in File.
 
 Rudy Nikkel - Teacher, Landmark Collegiate, Landmark, Manitoba
 Mentor, computer coordinator, piloted the IMYM multimedia class in the
 school.
 
 Shelley Rinehart - Electronic Commerce Centre, Saint John, NB
 All Rinehart's efforts have the goal of raising awareness of IT in the
 greater Saint John community. Among the many accomplishments, Rinehart
 developed the first e-commerce program at UNBSJ, directs the e-comm
 center, is a speaker and ambassador at IT events and Cyber socials,
 bringing together the IT community and business.
 
 Stephen Ibaraki - Head of Research, Capilano College, B.C.
 Ibaraki has spent his entire career in the IT Industry and worked
 consistently on the leading edge of technology. He received the World
 Computer All Star award early on and has continued winning awards since.
 He could easily ride his talent and expertise to fame and fortune, yet
 the majority of his time, effort and resources go to his students.
 An instructor at Capilano College in North Vancouver, Stephen has
 consistently received the highest teaching evaluation scores. He has
 also earned the Top Teacher Award. He has freely shared his research
 with Capilano College, enabling it to become a world leader in technology
 education.
 
 Throughout his career Stephen has excelled. Yet what is so unique about
 him is the amount of time and effort he freely gives to help others.
 Whether it is in the classroom or on a consulting assignment he never
 misses an opportunity to help others understand how things work in the
 world of technology.
 
 Tom Copeland - service provider, Cobourg, Ontario
 Copeland has been instrumental in bringing Internet service to
 Northumberland County when large ISPs were not interested in providing
 rural service. He also established the region's first Community Access
 Program.
 
 Ability Online - Toronto, Ontario
 For empowering young people with special needs, giving them wings via
 technology.
 
 Anja Haman - President, Wired Woman Society, Vancouver, B.C.
 Haman is recognized for leading Wired Woman Society, extending its
 visibility and providing an environment that effectively allows women to
 achieve personal and professional success in the industry.
 
 Alan Beilman - ITCoordinator/teacher, Joseph H. Kerr School, Snow Lake,
 Manitoba
 Due to Beilman's contributions, the school and community have progressed
 from almost no IT resources to being recognized as one of the top 30 most
 innovative schools in the country by Industry Canada.
 
 APTICA - Atlantic Provinces
 Members of this committee are teachers, supervisors, retirees, who have
 all volunteered their time and resources to improve the Atlantic
 provinces.
 
 Brian Harvey - webmaster, Nova Scotia Council, Scouts Canada, Nova Scotia
 For playing a major community role in demonstrating the potential of IT
 to get the most out of scarce resources in a volunteer organization
 serving youth. His volunteer work, using technology, has resulted in the
 spread of information about the youth service programs of Scouts Canada.
 
 Carol Knock Logan - Halifax Regional School Board Southdale North
 Woodside, NS and Craig White - Avalon East School Board, Newfoundland
 One of the first Intel Teach to the Future Master Teachers, Logan and
 White have spent many hours in training and passing on their training
 to other teachers. They have overcome many obstacles including lack of
 funding for teacher out-of-classroom time, access to remote schools and
 strikes.
 
 Don Whitty - Mosaic Technologies, Miramichi, NB
 Whitty is recognized for establishing and growing the New Brunswick
 Community College Miramichi Mutlimedia Centre of Excellence. The Centre's
 programs are designed to train graduates with the technical and business
 skills necessary to start their own advanced training technologies
 companies, thereby helping to develop an industry in New Brunswick, and
 specifically, within the Miramichi community. Whitty is also credited
 with starting the Miramichi Distributed Learning Centre, establishing
 partnerships and projects with industry leaders in the field of on-line
 learning, and contributing to the growth of the industry in the region.
 
 Eel Ground First Nation School -
 Eel Ground won a silver award in the leadership category of the
 International cyber fair school competition for learning through web
 projects. Their students united the school and community through story
 telling projects with elders. Their work can be seen at
 www.cyberfair2001.org
 
 Dr. Jane Fritz - Professor and Dean, Faculty of Computer Science, UNB
 Fredericton Campus, NB
 For her extraordinary effort in the pursuit of elevating IT within the
 province of NB, especially through the establishment of the information
 systems professional legislation.
 
 Tanis Clayton - Teacher, Frontenac School, Winnipeg
 For introducing many students, parents and colleagues to technology. Over
 the past few years, Clayton has been instrumental in involving students
 and their parents in a learning-on-line program. Each student in Gr. 5
 at Frontenac School gets to take a computer home for three weeks to learn
 how to use the internet and the computer more effectively. Other projects
 -- such as technology buddies, pairing up students in Grade 1 and Grade
 5; teaching colleagues and students how to do playmation -- animation
 of plasticine objects with the assistance of a webcam of digicam; or
 coordinating online studies -- have made learning and teaching fun and
 practical.
 
 More information pertaining to IT Week and IT Heroes is available at
http://itweek.ca. If your organization or community is interested in profiling
any of these IT Heroes, we welcome the opportunity that you would provide in
giving them more recognition for all their efforts in promoting IT in the
community.
 
 ITAC is the voice of the Canadian information technology industry.
Together with its partner organizations across the country, the association
represents 1300 companies in the computing and telecommunications hardware,
software, services, and electronic content sectors. This network of companies
accounts for more than 70% of the 512,000 jobs, $116.4 billion in revenue,
$4.4 billion in R&D expenditure and $30.8 billion in exports that IT
contributes annually to the Canadian economy.
 
 
 
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For further information: Linda Oliver, loliver@itac.ca, 
(613) 238-4822 ext 222