OJEN Committees
In addition to the OJEN provincial office, OJEN has Local Committees of legal and educator sector volunteers set up in communities all across Ontario. While the OJEN provincial office works with teachers and volunteers throughout the province to do justice education work, having a local committee in an area means that our programs can happen more regularly and can tailor themselves to the community’s unique goals, needs and resources.
OJEN committees run local justice education programs and work to build lasting links between educators and legal professionals in a given community. They meet about 5-6 times a year to plan a broad range of services for young people and their teachers, such as:
- Visits to courthouses
- Getting a legal speaker to come talk to a class or community
- Mock trial tournaments
- Law symposiums
- Law Day events
- Art in the Courts
- Legally accurate teaching resources
- Professional development for teachers
Many of the existing OJEN committees were spearheaded by a judge of either the Ontario Court of Justice or the Superior Court of Justice, but all include a variety of professionals. OJEN committees thrive with the help of:
- lawyers,
- justices of the peace,
- law and civics teachers,
- school board representatives,
- Legal Aid Clinic staff,
- law librarians, and
- trial coordinators and other court administration staff.
Check out our Committee pages and the OJEN Local Activity page to find out whether there is an OJEN committee in your area. If you are interested in establishing an OJEN committee in your area, please contact us at 416-761-9963 or regions@ojen.ca.