Posted: 02/14/07

Where in the world?
St. Michael's receives grant from National Geographic

Stephanie Smetana | contributing writer
ssmetana@smcvt.edu

In a 2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey, 88 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map. Half couldn’t find New York City. Half couldn’t find world powers like Japan or India. And 20 percent couldn’t find the Pacific Ocean.

VGA to the rescue

The National Geographic grant will help fund VGA events like the 2005 Middlebury Geography fair. (photo courtesy of Richard Kujawa)

This lack of geographic awareness is just what the Vermont Geographic Alliance (VGA), coordinated by St. Michael’s College geography professor Richard Kujawa, is working to change. Kujawa will be aided by a $48,700 grant from the National Geographic Society Education Foundation, awarded in November.

“The grant is something that’s funding programs that we’ve been working with for several years,” Kujawa says. “We’re thrilled to get the money and we’re thrilled to be able to raise additional life into the programs and activities. This grant is something that allows us to crank it up a notch and add some new activities.”

Geography in the community

Created in 1991 to increase understanding of geography in kindergarten through grade 12, the VGA will use the money for summer institutes, professional development workshops and new programs. These will include a lecture series and Sports Geography Action!, a program that connects geography to sports, Kujawa says.

Each year the National Geographic Society (NGS) chooses a regional focus for their workshops, Kujawa says. The focus for this year is Africa and next year will be Asia.

Kujawa says a summer institute for K-12 geography teachers will be held at St. Michael's from July 23-28 (photo courtesy of Richard Kujawa)

The VGA will also continue to fund several teacher consultant workshops taught by retired school teacher Mary Cassarino, where teachers learn new techniques for teaching geography.

Other state geography events include the geographic spelling bee and the annual Geography Fair on March 30. The fair will be held at the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, Vt.

Additional workshops will be held on the St. Michael’s campus, Kujawa says.

“St. Michael’s is the home base of the organization,” he says. “St. Michael’s is the fiscal agent, the Web site is here, I work here.”

Other schools and teachers add strongly to the VGA’s work, including co-coordinator Cheryl Morse Dunkley, a University of Vermont professor, Kujawa says.

“The alliance is about partnerships and so we have partners at the University of Vermont, Middlebury College and Castleton State College,” Kujawa says.

Kujawa and Dunkley plan to hold a summer institute at St. Michael’s this July 23-28. This institute will provide materials and room and board for currently practicing teachers.

“With additional work, people that take it can receive graduate credit,” Kujawa says.

The VGA has also taught pre-service workshops at local colleges, Kujawa says.

“In our pre-service program we work with people who are going to be teachers rather than teachers themselves,” he says.

Three years ago, the VGA held a pre-service workshop for St. Michael’s education majors, says Valerie Bang-Jensen, associate professor of education. The Education Honors Society, Kappa Delta Phi, and the geography program planned and sponsored the two-hour workshop, Bang-Jensen says.

“It was fabulous,” Bang-Jensen says. “I’d love to see it offered every other year.”

She says of a former student, now teaching in Hawaii, who she had recently spoken with about the VGA workshop.

“She was so glad she had taken it,” Bang-Jensen says.

The education department plans to discuss dates for a pre-service workshop this spring, Bang-Jensen says.

Although not part of the VGA, plans are also being implemented at Burlington High School to increase geography education, Frances Brock, a world civilization teacher at Burlington High School says.

“We’re going to be introducing a new course in the fall,” Brock says.

The new course will be a requirement for all ninth graders. Students will spend one semester studying world geography and world religion and one semester studying American civics, Brock says.

This course will replace world civilization, Brock says.

However, the new class will prepare students for upper level classes in U.S. history and world history, Brock says. Teachers won’t have to break from their regular curriculum to bring students up to date on geography and civics.

Brock says that using the information they learn more often will help students to better retain information about geography.

Future Plans for the VGA

The first place postcard in a competition for third and fourth graders from Geographic Awareness week in 2005. (photo courtesy of Richard Kujawa)

Kujawa and Dunkley will begin working on next year's grant proposal over the summer, Kujawa says.

The VGA was originally funded by the National Geographic Society when it was created, Kujawa says.

“What happened in Vermont is that the society invested $25,000 to get the Vermont alliance started,” Kujawa says. “Gov. Howard Dean matched it with $25,000 in state money.”

However, the society’s funding programs changed and the VGA lost their funding, Kujawa says.

“It’s been an uphill battle sometimes,” Cassarino says. “We haven’t always had that much funding.”

Cassarino says she hopes the additional outreach the VGA has been able to do with their funding may help them receive another grant. Kujawa echoes her sentiments.

“My hope is that the new visibility and enhanced partnerships will make the VGA competitive for another NGS grant after that,” Kujawa wrote in an email. “Next year’s grant applications will be due in July so we will have some evidence of progress to share with NGS at that point.”

According to the Geography Alliance Web site, there is at least one geography alliance in every state today. Created in 1986, the National Geography Alliance provides grants for up to $125,000.

Kujawa and Dunkley also plan to attend the annual NGS coordinators meeting in Washington at the end of February, Kujawa says.

“We will also be visiting Capitol Hill to enhance the national profile of geography,” Kujawa wrote in an e-mail interview.

Kujawa says he enjoys his work with the VGA.

“I like the idea that a university-level faculty member can be a public advocate and a supporter of geography,” he says.