l

Macomb Internet Safety DayToday is Macomb Internet Safety Day, a day that has taken one year to bring to fruition.

The Macomb Online Safety Team (M.O.S.T.) and the Regional Office's of Education #26 and #1 are sponsoring our second annual online safety awareness day.  This year, our focus will be on the growing issue of cyberbullying.

All second and third grade students at Lincoln Elementary School spent eight weeks learning about online safety issues and concerns. At the end of the eight-week session, the children participated in a cyberbullying poster contest. 

At 1:45, an Internet Safety school assembly will take place at Lincoln Elementary School. 

• The honorable Mayor of Macomb will kick off the event
• I will show a presentation to the 250 second and third graders
• After the presentation, I will have a very special surprise by the wonderful folks at  Netsmartz 
• Lincoln Elementary Principal Ed Fulkerson and myself will announce the six winners of the poster contest and hand out a wide assortment of prizes generously donated by various businesses

At 6:30, our informational parental event will occur at the Macomb High School Gym. 

• The Mayor of Macomb will officially proclaim the day "Macomb Internet Safety Day"
• Miss Macomb will emcee the event 
• Results of our cyberbullying survey created by counselor Angie Schauble and the MOST team will be presented by MHS teacher Jess Risley
• Several cyberbullying videos created by Macomb High School students will be shown
• A 12-minute movie on cyberbullying I created will also be shown.  I am honored to include music from talented artists Rob Costlow and Novenda.  Novenda's song will be my cyberbullying "theme song" in all future presentations to parents, educators and children.
• Special Guest Sarah Migas, Internet Safety Specialist from the High Tech Crimes Bureau from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General will speak
• And our very special keynote speaker, cyberbullying advocate Tina Meier, will share her compelling and powerful story

 The event will be televised in it's entirety on two different television channels.

The amount of work that went into this event is simply, overwhelming.   On a personal note, I am excited and incredibly nervous.  Macomb Internet Safety Day marks the end of another year of online safety education for me.  At this juncture, over 750 children have spent eight weeks learning about a wide variety of online safety issues.  

I encourage all in the area to attend this incredibly important informational day.