Ben Hazzard

Father and Educator in Sombra, Ontario, Canada

Ben Hazzard

Father and Educator in Sombra, Ontario, Canada

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Ben Hazzard works for the Lambton Kent District School Board. Currently, he is the Superintendent of Education: Elementary Program / Early Years. He has served as the Principal of P.E. McGibbon Public school in Sarnia, Principal of A.A. Wright Public School in Wallaceburg, and the Principal of D.A. Gordon Public School in Wallaceburg, Ontario. In 2011 - 2012, he worked as a Vice-Principal for Ridgetown District High School which provided programs for students in Grades 7 - 12. This recent work led to his inclusion in the Apple Distinguished Educator: Class of 2015.

Ben Hazzard was a Program Consultant for the Lambton Kent District School Board. Beyond his day to day responsibilities, Ben co-lead a regional assessment and evaluation focus group (ae.misalondon.ca), and chaired his district's IT / Program committee. He was part of the 2011 and 2012 Unplug'd organizing committee (unpludgd.ca)

In 2010, he was part of the organizing team for TEDxOntarioEd (tedxontarioed.ca). In 2008, he developed TeachersConnecting.com, a site that intelligently connects teachers for cross-classroom collaboration projects. His research into cross-classroom collaboration was nationally recognized in 2009 for excellence by the Canadian Association for Teacher Education, an organization within the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. He co-founded and developed the SMARTBoard Lesson Podcast (pdtogo.com/smart), a weekly podcast which shares lesson ideas with educators around the world who use interactive whiteboards, and was awarded the 2007 Education Podcast of the Year. Ben was a provincial trainer for the Ontario Ministry of Education's shared reading strategy. Ben has presented at conferences across North America and Asia. He has taught grades four through seven in Brampton and Sarnia, Ontario.

Ben has also been recognized as an Apple Distinguished Educator: Class of 2015, Microsoft Innovative Teacher: International Leadership, SMART Exemplary Educator, and with Peel District School Board's Award of Excellence for Contribution to Public Education.

Outside of education, Ben works in his community as a member of the board of directors for Community Living Wallaceburg and is the race director for the St.Clair River Run (stclairriverrun.ca). Most mornings, as the sun rises, you will find him in line for a slice of Canadian heaven called a Tim Horton's coffee.