Kudos to Kerry Gallagher, who was honored recently by Google and the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) for her work on online safety. She received the 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award at FOSI's ninth annual conference in Washington, D.C. FOSI is an international non-profit that works with educators, policy makers, and industry leaders to promote good digital citizenship and a culture of responsibility online.  

One of two digital learning specialists at St. John's, Kerry writes frequently about digital citizenship and online safety for educational organizations like EdSurge, the Smarter Schools Project and ConnectSafely. In addition to her full-time work at St. John's, Kerry is director of K-12 education for ConnectSafely, a non-profit that educates users of connected technology about safety, privacy and security. Her publications include "The Educator's Guide to Social Media," which was released in August by ConnectSafely.

Kerry and her colleague Julie Cremin, also a digital learning specialist at St. John's, collaborate closely with teachers to support effective and engaging uses of technology in classrooms at the Prep. Both have been classroom teachers and they tap that experience in working with students to develop an understanding of what it means to be good digital citizens, at school and all areas of life. 

They engaged Prep parents in the digital citizenship conversation recently with an informative presentation at a Parent Council meeting and a webinar earlier this fall. Kerry and Julie also collaborated with Prep Latin teacher Elizabeth Solomon to make a presentation about digital citizenship at the annual EdTech Teacher iPad Summit in Boston.

"Technology is a powerful tool for student engagement and learning. As teachers, Kerry and Julie understand how to use technology in an educational setting, and they also know the importance of teaching students to become responsible digital citizens in all facets of life," said Keith A. Crowley, Ph.D., Principal and Associate Head of School. "Their efforts are an integral part of our commitment to educating the whole student at St. John's."