Georgia school teachers learn ecology and sustainable development in Ecuador through UGA program

FL Note: Congratulations to Fayette County's Maureen Tompkins from Flat Rock Middle School in Tyrone who was one of the attendees.

High in the cloud forests of Ecuador, Georgia public school teachers listened and waited. Toucans, trogans and numerous species of hummingbirds flew through the canopy. In the damp, cool landscape, orchids and other plants filled the air with rich scents.

Welcome to a summer field course that from June 27-July 6 attracted some 20 teachers from all over the state to lush sites in this South American country. Each day was packed with intensive study of issues relating to sustainable development. The course was sponsored by the Georgia Museum of Natural History, part of the University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and the State Botanical Garden of Georgia.

The field school was based in the Maquipucuna Reserve, which has around 15,000 acres of primary and secondary forest and is located within Ecuador’s Choco Andean Bioregion, one of the world’s top-five biodiversity hot spots. The reserve incorporates habitats ranging from 4,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level.

“The reserve really has everything a field school like this needs,” said Carol Hoffman, education director of the museum and co-leader of the field school. “It’s a fascinating biological and ecological site, and a wonderful place to take teachers.”

Co-leader Anne Shenk, director of education at the Botanical Garden, agrees.

“The extent of the area’s biodiversity is evident everywhere,” she said. “For instance, every time you turn over a leaf you find an insect.”

But the beautiful cloud forest supports much more than insects and birds. Jaguars and spectacled bears prowl the reserve, too. And despite the fact that it’s almost directly on the equator, its altitude (some 4,000 feet) gives it a cool, wet climate.

The course, called The Global Naturalists Learning Community: Tropical Ecology of the Andes, developed from previous work that Hoffman and Shenk did with the Maquipucuna Foundation, including an international education project called “Our Shared Forests.” They designed the new field school and activities that teachers will take back to their classrooms to enhance scientific inquiry and help their students understand that global environmental issues affect them in Georgia.

“Once when I was sharing my travel experiences with a group of students, I said that I enjoyed learning about other places and sharing it with them,” said Halley Page, a teacher at Fowler Drive Elementary School in Athens-Clarke County. “One of the students said, ‘And that’s how we get to go, too!’ Educators that have this type of experience increase their knowledge base and pass on their renewed excitement to their students. I hope it will inspire their students to someday see the world and appreciate the diversity of cultures and environments that exist.”

The sheer richness of biodiversity in the Reserve is enough to startle anyone. Maquipucuna is home to a great variety of species, many of them endangered and/or endemic. There are around 2,000 plant species (more than 200 species of orchids), more than 349 bird species and more than 50 species of mammals.

“In addition to gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of a variety of land uses on the environment, course activities helped teachers gain a greater understanding of their students with family origins in Latin America,” explained Shenk.

Hoffman said the teachers also visited several towns and saw how homes, markets, schools, businesses and micro-enterprises operate and how they fit in with goals of sustainability. For instance, the town of Salinas has some 93 micro-enterprises, including chocolate and cheese production.

“Because of hunting and development pressures, some of the original species are gone, but so much remains, and there’s so much richness and diversity, that saving it is important, and every teacher understood that,” she said.

That perspective was tested often, however, not least on one trip when a giant cockroach made its appearance, along with numerous species of spiders and scorpions.

The group studying at the field school this summer included high school science teachers, middle school life- and earth-sciences teachers and upper-elementary science specialists. Each had to write a preliminary essay on why she or he wanted to attend the field school, and the group’s eagerness and eloquence assured Hoffman and Shenk of an interested and committed trip. Each teacher earned seven Professional Learning Units—extended education that all teachers in Georgia must earn during their careers.

“The trip to Ecuador provided me with a comprehensive perspective of the interdependence of all people on the environment, exposing me to the diversity of cultures within one nation, and showing me the dependence on resources available within the different climate zones within the country,” said Steven King of Whit Davis Elementary School, also in Athens-Clarke County. “The experiences of this trip will shape my instruction to my students in the areas of biology, environmental science, sociology, geology and climatology. It will always be a trip that I will never forget.”

The field course was funded by a grant from the U.S. Teacher Quality Higher Education Program for the Improvement of Math and Science Education.

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Fayette School Counselors Association Names Counselors of the Year, Installs Officers

School Superintendent Dr. John DeCotis (center) along with this year’s counselor and advocate of the year winners: (L-R) Dionne Maddox, Linda G. Williams, Sonya Tucker and Diann Ferrante.

Fayette County's school counselors celebrated their craft and honored their colleagues during the ninth annual Fayette School Counselors Association (FSCA) Installation of Officers and Awards Ceremony.

Each year the association seeks nominations from members, teachers and administrators for those who are always going above and beyond the call of duty to help students excel at each academic level. One counselor of the year is selected from the elementary, middle and high school level. The 2009 counselors of the year are (elementary) Linda G. Williams, Brooks; (middle) Dionne Maddox, Flat Rock and (high) Sonya Tucker, McIntosh.

In addition to naming counselors of the year, the organization recognizes a non-counselor who has worked hard during the year to advance counseling programs and services at an individual school or system wide. This year’s advocate of the year award was presented to Diann Ferrante, secretary for CARE (Children at Risk in Education).

During the ceremony, the association also installed its 2009-2010 officers: Kaye Eubanks (Open Campus) president elect; Linda G. Williams (Brooks Elementary) president; Brenda Cannington (Bennett’s Mill Middle) past president; Kelly Hubbard (Robert J. Burch Elementary) secretary; Tama Matthews (Flat Rock Middle) treasurer; Stacey Patterson (Crabapple Lane Elementary) elementary school vice president; Dionne Maddox (Flat Rock Middle) middle school vice president and Hope Huey (McIntosh High) high school vice president.

Fayette has three counselors who have made the decision to retire this year. Each has dedicated at least 30 years of service to the field of education and has impacted countless students, parents and coworkers. The following retirees were honored by the association: Susanne Pinkley, Oak Grove Elementary; Fanita Duvall, Fayette County Alternative School; and Winkie Greenhaw, Sandy Creek High.

School counselors at all levels provide valuable services to students and their families as well as faculty and staff. On a daily basis they are involved in character education, violence prevention, career planning and much more.

Counselors are professional educators who understand and respond to the challenges presented by today’s diverse population. They don’t work in isolation; rather they are integral to the total educational program. They provide proactive leadership that engages all stakeholders in the delivery of programs and services to help students achieve school success.

Professional school counselors align with the school’s mission to support the academic achievement of all students as they prepare for the ever-changing world of the 21st century. This mission is accomplished through the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive, developmental and systematic school counseling program.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Follow on Twitter @GAFrontPage
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Fayette County Students Advance to State Geography Bee

The port of Rotterdam is built on the delta of which major European river? If you are struggling with the answer, then you might call on one of Fayette County's State Geography Bee qualifiers for help.

Logan Austin, 8th grade, Bennett’s Mill Middle; Ali Jawad, 8th grade, Flat Rock Middle and Sam Burgess, 6th grade, Rising Starr Middle, will represent Fayette County at the 2008-09 Georgia Geography Bee on April 3 at Georgia College and State University.

They are among 100 of the state’s brightest students in grades 4-8 selected to participate in the competition. Their selection was based on their performance on a written test to determine their eligibility to compete at the state level. In order to take the written test, students must first win their individual school’s competition. The competition is affiliated with the National Geographic Bee.

By the way, the answer to the question is the Rhine River.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Fayette County Math Students Sweep Top Awards

Math students in Fayette’s middle schools swept first place awards in all three divisions of the 2009 Griffin RESA Middle School Math Contest.

The first place winners are Bennett’s Mill (Division I: Smaller Schools), Flat Rock Middle (Division II: Medium Schools) and Rising Starr Middle (Division III: Larger Schools).

In addition to the first place finishes, Whitewater Middle placed third in Division II and Logan Austin of Bennett’s Mill placed second in the overall individual winners category.

The Griffin RESA Middle School Math Contest is a regional competition among middle schools in the Griffin RESA region, which consists of Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties. Over 22 middle schools participated in this year’s competition.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page