By Julie Slama | [email protected]

Hillcrest High School’s PTA president Julie Cluff isn’t afraid to admit she doesn’t know all the ins-and-outs of the internet.

“Parents need to be more aware of what is on the internet, what students are facing and combatting,” she said. “Us parents need to catch-up and become tech savvy.”

While Canyons School District officials recently worked with local police to investigate a Hillcrest student’s post that could be taken as potentially threatening, Cluff already had applied and received this $1,000 grant from the National PTA and Google to provide parents with resources needed to answer practical questions about digital safety and citizenship.

Hillcrest was one of 200 PTAs nationwide to receive the PTA Connected Be Internet Awesome grant, which provided leaders and teachers with a kit for their workshop, 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 16 at the school’s STEM building, 7350 S. 900 East. In addition to parents of Hillcrest students, parents and guardians from Midvale, Union and Albion middle schools are invited.

“I love that we are inviting parents of 12- to 18-year-olds and personalizing this for our community. We have information in both English and Spanish, and a facilitator to present it in Spanish. We have handouts for those who don’t have computers, but we also will explore apps as a lot of kids have smartphones and are getting them a lot sooner. We need to bring our community together and share in discussions and be alert for our students,” she said.

A slated survey of parents in March was expected to bring more feedback into some discussions planned for the event.

The workshop will have several break-out sessions addressing how families can be smart, be alert, be strong, be kind and be brave.

According to National PTA President Jim Accomando, the workshop allows parents to discuss issues of raising children in a connected world.

“Parents will walk away with the awareness of the topics and access to resources, answers to questions about online safety and digital citizenship, and action plans and information to help facilitate discussions at home,” he said.

To attend the free event, parents should RSVP at https://goo.gl/forms/rcR8a20RZjhg1vdB2 so organizers can plan for enough supplies and space to hold the workshop.