Through a grant program, the Ontario Archaeological Society was able to successfully hire two students to work on OAS related projects this summer. I was lucky to be invited again to continue the tasks from last year: developing the website, maximizing/updating social media platforms for archaeological outreach and aid in administration at the OAS head office. 

One of our accomplishments this year was to create a French version of the website. Viewers are able to click on the English/French buttons at the top of the page, and switch between either languages. With new pages being built constantly, some of the French pages are still undergoing translations but will soon be fully functional. 

Claire, the Director of Public Outreach, and I started exploring numerous design elements we felt could brighten the appeal of the website. The flashing images on the homepage were replaced with a slideshow of archaeological pictures, and the page now features colourful tables that update the vistiors on forums, blogs posts, and events! Many of the interactive elements on the website are now live such as: the forums, photo galleries, and OAS blog for the community. The OAS encourages you to participate in these new features where you’ll be able to meet others, and contribute to the ever-growing archaeological discipline in Ontario! 

Finally, as you may have noticed, when you try to go on the old website, it will redirect you here! This signifies the official closing of the old domain - now the OAS can fully utilize Wild Apricot and tackle the old and new challenges. There are still a great number of updates to complete before the end of summer. Hopefully, we’ll be able to finish the website by then so everyone can navigate with no difficulties! 

Similarly, work at the head office has been just as busy. One of the major projects the past few weeks is preparing a compilation of stats for the PHO Grant; with the deadline in the upcoming week. Unfortunately, we keep running into problems, so Lorie (the Executive Director) and I have been pulling all our hair out, mostly due to the amount of math our brains are not used to doing! However, I’m happy to report that at least 85% of it is now completed, and the week of the grant work won’t be as stressful for us. Whenever we want to de-stress, we would have a nice chat while filing or updating documents. 

All in all, I’m glad to be back for another great summer at both the head offices of the OAS and ASI. I am excited for what surprises the OAS will bring this summer for the board, its members, the general public, and me!

Until next time,
Lynna