Alumnus Sean O’Conner (BS, 2005) just wrote to pass on the following announcement from Ray Waverly, speaking on behalf of the National Geographic Society’s Education Programs:
We are getting ready to launch the Speak Up For Geography Campus Challenge at the AAG meeting next week. The goal of the Campus Challenge is to engage with university students to spread the message about the importance of geography in K-12 schools. We want to build broad public support for the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act (TGIF) and to raise awareness about the status of geography in federal education legislation. University students and student organizations can join the Campus Challenge at sufgCampusChallenge.org, which lists many activities that students can do to participate.
Here’s what you can do now: 1. Like the Campus Challenge on facebook and google+; 2. follow us on twitter (@speakupforgeo); 3. add this to your email signature: “Teaching geography is fundamental. Go to SpeakUpForGeography.org today”; 4. if you are a university student, join the Campus Challenge at sufgCampusChallenge.org; 5. if you know of any university students, consider forwarding this message: “We’re looking for geography advocates across college campuses in the United States.”
Did you know? Only 20 U.S. states require a geography class in middle or high school, while many countries (like Switzerland, France, Norway, and Romania) require geography every year until high school graduation. Maybe that’s why 88% of 18-24 year old Americans can’t find Afghanistan on a map of Asia! Geography is much more than knowing where things are located, but without basic geographic knowledge it’s impossible to make informed decisions in our personal, professional, and civic lives. Right now, geography is named as a “core academic subject” but unlike all the other core academic subjects, including history, civics, economics, foreign languages and the arts, there is no dedicated federal funding stream to advance geography education. We need to let Congress know that learning geography is important! Join the public campaign in support of the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act. Go to sufgCampusChallenge.org to find out the many ways you can Speak Up For Geography.
Editor’s note: Alumnus Sean O’Connor graduated with honors (BS 2005) that included Outstanding Achievement as a Geography Major, Distinction in the Major, and being awarded the Jack and Laura Dangermond Undergraduate Fellowship. To top that, he also landed an internship at National Geographic Magazine. Sean continues to work for National Geographic in their Education division, as the project manager of educational mapping. And on a volunteer basis, Sean is also a co-director of a non-profit that does educational development work in Liberia called FUEL Youth. For more about his current work with National Geographic, see the April 7, 2011 article.
