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| TEACHER GRANTS WINNERS |
California Teachers Win NGS Grant
When Bakersfield elementary teacher Eydie Alba-Gamblin read an email about the National Geographic Society ’s teacher grant program,she took action! Eydie and fellow Frank West Elementary School teachers Barbara Mansfield,Chelsea Chapman and Diane Hislop logged onto the NGS website to learn more.
Their long time dream and the goals of the National Geographic Society matched up perfectly.As they read over previous grant winner ideas they knew their dream to expand classroom teaching beyond the classroom walls into the real world was competitive enough to give it a try.This August,the teachers received the good news –the National Geographic Society Education Foundation had approved a $5,000 grant to pursue their dream!
The Frank West Elementary teachers will be taking four classes of students who are from low socioeconomic backgrounds, largely bilingual,and urban to different geographic regions of California: coastal,desert,mountain,and valley.Each destination is a day ’s trip from the city,yet most of the students have not been beyond the nearest grocery store.The students will experience geography, history,beauty of nature,and ecosystems,emphasizing bird habitats thereby incorporating the experience of previous bird watching grants.
The students and their parents will travel to four main diverse areas in the Central California region.These are:the Windwolves Preserves (to the south),Red Rock Canyon (to the east),Sequoia National Forrest (to the north),Montana De Oro (to the west). Each area has many different habitats.The student scientists will study each of these environments and the birds that are found there.They will focus on the interactions,adaptations,food chains and other natural systems semi-undisturbed by man.With binoculars and notebooks,the children will record what they observe - in particular,the specifics of each ecosystem.The teachers will incorporate follow-up lessons back in the classroom to ensure the students have a thorough understanding of each of these habitats. The goal is for each student to become an environmentalist and learn the value of natural habitats and preserving our resources. Through these new experiences and previous projects the children will truly become life long geography learners.
The teachers will incorporate the experiences and results of previous NGS bird watching teacher grants and take this to a new level by exposing students and their parents to four geographic locations to improve student achievement in geography education.The teachers believe that hands-on observation is the basis for all learning.
Upon completion of the school year,the students will be able to recognize that the world not too far from them has a lot to offer and that they should not be afraid to step out there and experience it.These are the National Geography Standards that we are pursuing.This would incorporate the standards of geography and science in such a high interest level that even the children with behavior problems put their mannerisms aside for the activity time and join in on the learning.
These Bakersfield teachers feel strongly that economics should not keep their students from the opportunity to know what is past the classroom door stoop.The places are so meaningful to these teachers because they know and love them and have taken day jaunts to them throughout their lives.They have passed them on to their own children and are thrilled with the opportunity to pass them on to four classes of students and their families.
If you would like to apply for a NGS teacher grant,check out the rules at www.nationalgeographic.com |
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