BY JASON THOMPSON
Greater Sudbury will play host to more than 300 educators from throughout the province Oct. 28 and 29. This is the first time the 2005 Ontario Association of Geographic and Environmental Education (OAGEE) Conference will take place north of Barrie.
The conference allows geographic and environmental educators to attend seminars and participate in workshops related to their classroom teachings, all the while submersing themselves in the Greater Sudbury landscape.
Pamela Potvin, conference co-chair, said the conference will be a boon to tourism.
Teachers are ?actually going to see what Sudbury has to offer so they might take their kids on a field trip to Dynamic Earth or Science North, the students will indirectly benefit because of what the teachers are going to be gaining.?
Rob Skelly, manager of tourism, marketing and culture for the city, sees the OAGEE conference as a way to sell Greater Sudbury to a new group of people. The city has invested $1,500 in the conference.
?Its marketing dollars well spent because you?re giving the audience a Sudbury experience,? he said.
?It?s much more powerful than a brochure or a website or a video, getting people here is really the trick.?
Rainbow District School Board chair Dena Morrison is excited about the opportunities for students to study in a unique geographic landscape.
?Our entire coverage area, from Greater Sudbury to Manitoulin Island, is one huge classroom for geography, geology and environmental studies.?
The OAGEE Conference is taking place Oct. 28 and 29 at the Holiday Inn on Regent St. and will feature a keynote address from David Pearson, professor of earth sciences at Laurentian University.
