Saturday, December 18, 2010

GC Hardwick Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Hardwick began the Fall Term sitting outside at Greensboro Bend Church learning to tell stories about their lives and personal histories. This Our Stories unit inspired the group to share story-telling techniques, which evolved throughout the term into in-depth personal stories. Chris decided to use video to tell the story of his work at Applecheek Farm. A film of his daily work was recorded and shared with the class. Annie created posters of her life and favorite activities. She cut out magazine pictures to describe some of her habits and what she likes to do. The Our Story theme will continue to weave throughout the curriculum in Winter Interim and Spring Term 2011.

Midway through Fall Term, after the campus numbers grew to twenty-two participants, Global Campus Hardwick decided they had outgrown the space at Greensboro Bend Church. The group settled on a new space at the Greensboro Fellowship Hall, which has a large common area, kitchen and dance floor! The group was sad to leave Greensboro Bend, where they have many memories, but the new space fits well with the campus dynamic.

Global Campus Hardwick began a new routine of creating their Campus Seminar agendas as a group before class. The group takes turns leading the campus and the leader writes the agenda onto a white board. The campus is very vocal and often spends a lot of time talking during Campus Seminar, thus cutting into their class time. We discussed whether to add more time to the seminar or to continue to cut ourselves off after a half an hour of discussion. The group decided to keep the discussions short, when possible!

Global Campus Hardwick took their course offerings to a new level this term. People often commented after a class that the faculty had used many new teaching methods and created an innovative class, fun for everyone. Amanda’s Zumba Class got everyone out of their seats and dancing. Amanda goes to Zumba class twice a week and had spent the term designing her own dance workout to share with the class. Another dance class, Connor taught the group to Contra dance. He walked everyone through a few steps and then shared a step that he had made up on his own. Helen and Tina brought in evergreen and wire for the group to create holiday wreathes. People shared that they loved the hands-on creativity of this class. Olivia’s Genealogy workshop allowed everyone to start a family tree. Parker shared about one of his favorite Beatles songs, Here Comes the Sun. As he played the song, the whole group began to sing, and people commented that his class had been relaxing and soothing. Seth and Jared arranged a field trip to the Wolcott Town Hall to walk the group through the process of voting. The campus voted Jared as Governor and Seth as Lieutenant Governor.

This term was packed with classes, so much so that it prompted discussion of whether to have some classes on different days of the week. The group is still discussing this idea, but holds fast to their love of Tuesdays. Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from.

GC St. Johnsbury Celebrates Fall Term!


This has been an exciting semester for Global Campus St. Johnsbury! Fall Term 2010 began with lots of new faces at Global Campus St. Johnsbury. The meeting room at Springfield College was packed with people and busy with excitement. This fall, the group delved into a unit on Our Stories, where campus participants practiced telling stories and personal histories about their lives. Using digital recorders, storyboards and artwork, they told stories about their favorite childhood memories or about where they live or about inspirational people in their lives. This unit was emotional for many people. We discussed that the campus is a safe place for participants to share about their histories and that people need-not feel obligated to share stories that are difficult to tell. There were a few tears as people shared about parents or loved ones who had passed away. There were also many laughs.

The Our Stories unit sparked a discussion about creating a Global Campus St. Johnsbury film. Josh had made a film about his experiences at St. Johnsbury Academy and suggested that Global Campus St. Johnsbury might like to do something similar. The campus decided to create a film that told the story of Global Campus St. Johnsbury and what it is like to participate at the campus. The group began working with filmmaker Scott Miller on a documentary film project. Using five cameras, participants learned to shoot video footage and create video stories about their campus. The Campus Staff used a storyboard to discuss what type of shots to add to the film and what they want to show to their audience. Campus participants also worked on their own with the cameras, filming things that are important to them outside of the campus. The film was invited to present at the Green Mountain Film Festival in St. Johnsbury on April 1, 2, 3. The group is very excited for the opportunity to present their work and share about their Global Campus.

Global Campus St. Johnsbury participants took their campus to a new level this term preparing classes and working on new projects. Josh’s class, The Fantasy of Knights and Dragons, demonstrated many innovative teaching methods. Josh shared that he had been working on his class for over two months, making posters, practicing and designing packets for the class. David and Samantha’s Music and Art to Express your Feelings class opened up a new thought process for many participants. David shared that art can be relaxing and can open your mind to think and create. We saw many interesting artistic creations while listening to music. Michelle invited the group to try meditation. She demonstrated the process of meditating and shared different techniques to clear the mind and relax with meditation.

A highpoint of the term was Phil and Neal’s Talent – No – Talent Show. Many participants prepared acts of talent (or no talent) to present in front of the group. Phil and Neal arranged the room into a theater, invited guests from Springfield College, NKHS and GCF, and designed a program listing the acts. Jessica was invited to be Master of Ceremonies and she created a script that welcomed the group and introduced each act with a witty, innovative line. The group had lots of fun watching each other dance, play instruments, sing songs, recite readings, and play games. The hosts, Phil and Neal, marched in the Harmonica Marching Band as one of the acts. The show was lots of fun, and may become an annual event.

Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from.

GC Newport Celebrate Fall Term!

Global Campus Newport has enjoyed an tremendously successful Fall Semester 2010! Fall Term began with some logistical changes at Staff Meeting and Campus Seminar. The Staff have begun to take more responsibility for their meetings and seminars, keeping a campus binder and writing new agendas each week during Staff Meeting. This change was an adjustment for the group, but the staff seems to like the added responsibility. The Staff usually spend their hour-long meeting planning for Campus Seminar and discussing what topics are important to be brought up to the group. This term they worked on a grant to the Green Mountain Fund, made arrangements for a trip to the corn maze (which was cancelled due to rain), planned Registration and Orientation Days, discussed the campus layout and planned a Community Service Project donating canned goods to the NEKCA Food Shelf.

During the Teaching and Learning Class this Fall Term Global Campus Newport focused on the Academic Year Theme: Our Stories. People shared personal histories and answered prompt questions such as, “what is one of your favorite childhood memories,” or “talk about a person in your life who you admire.” People worked in small groups to answer these questions, then wrote or drew storyboards depicting the stories. We had inspiring discussions in front of the class and learned a lot about people’s lives. Some of the stories people told were difficult to hear or tell. We discussed the campus as a safe place to share personal histories, but that people should not feel obligated to tell stories if they do not feel comfortable. We heard a lot of interesting stories and learned a lot.

The Our Stories theme will continue throughout the year, and people are encouraged to bring in stories that they create at home. During the term, people brought in various Our Story creations that they had worked on at home. Chris D. shared a laminated book with pictures of him, his family and his trip to see Sesame Street The Musical in Burlington. The book has space for him to write in dry-erase marker stories about his life. Tim shared photos of his summer and reconnecting with his father, whom Tim had not seen in many years. A few participants recorded their stories on a digital recorder so we can listen to them at a later time.

As always, Global Campus Newport’s course preparation and teaching was inspiring and new this term. The campus designed a unique catalog cover that incorporated images from many of the course offerings. On Registration Day, the campus welcomed many new members, including three high school students participating through the Global Campus Academy. These students added a unique voice to the campus, and veteran participants seemed to enjoy the role of mentoring and assisting new students as they become accustomed to the campus.

Global Campus Newport enjoyed many new course offerings this term and also continued with some old favorites, such as Bowling Club, Walking Club and Math Class. A few class highlights: In Yoga with Brandi, Brandi walked the group through some basic yoga stretches. She moved the tables back and encouraged everyone to join her on the floor in the center of the classroom. People tried new things and laughed with each other during the more difficult stretches. In Raymond’s Goats Class, Raymond brought in samples of goat milk, goat cheese and goat milk hand lotion. He showed pictures of his goats and shared stories about what it’s like to live on a goat farm. In Jewelry Factory, Bernie got many compliments that her class was fun and interactive. People went home with bracelets and necklaces.

Looking ahead to Winter Interim, the group will study a Where in the World theme that incorporates stories from around the world. The campus will look at stories, myths and fables, as well as pictures and cultural facts from different countries. There will be an air of mystery to this term as the groups try to guess Where in the World these stories are from!

Friday, December 17, 2010

GC Moretown Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Moretown has been an exciting place to be this Fall Term 2010! Early in the fall term we explored the GCF academic year theme: “Our Stories” by reflecting on stories from our own lives and sharing them in a variety of creative mediums. On one afternoon, campus participants passed around a camcorder, taking turns recording video and sharing stories in front of the camera. We were also busy early in the term harvesting our fruitful garden, making pesto with our basil and eating lots of zucchini, kale, and other veggies.

The classes this semester were fresh and innovative! Neil tested our intuition in a corn maze and shared his passion for racecars by having a real racecar driver Troy Kingsbury visit our campus with his stock car. Matt and Lee bravely presented a Frisbee workshop in a cold autumn rain. Allison made us feel as if we were on a cooking show with her Zucchini Bread Workshop. Afterwards Lee taught a poetry class while we munched on zucchini bread and fresh apple cider. Matt shared his passion for yo-yos by having us all make our own! Grace taught us about photography and shared a photo slideshow of all the GC Moretown classes and events. Roy hosted a local Waitsfield potter at our campus for a pottery workshop and Lee brought in a pile of acoustic instruments, demonstrating and playing each one for his class, the History and Origins of Acoustic Instruments. Our annual cider-pressing event was another tremendous success this fall. We combined the event with a Halloween and Harvest party and had a huge turnout. It was truly an exciting academic term!

We are all excited to begin Winter Interim in mid-January with an exploration of stories, legends, and myths from around the world. As we travel to different countries that we find interesting we’ll also what the local folklore is as part of our academic year theme “Our Stories”. Stay tuned to hear more about our adventures!

GC Randolph Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Randolph recently celebrated a very successful Fall Term at an awards celebration in mid-December! Our Fall Term began by exploring the academic year theme: “Our Stories”. As part of the theme campus participants thought about their lives and had the opportunity to share any interesting stories that emerged through writing, artwork, story telling and a variety of other creative mediums. We’ll be exploring the theme more during the Winter Interim and Spring Term!

The faculty at our campus presented some fantastic offerings this term. Jonathan shared three courses including a Power Rangers sequel, a new TV series called “Case Closed” and his popular Theme Song Trilogy class that he first offered during the spring term. Edie taught two classes, Nutrition and Exercise, and Edie’s Book Club. Rena also presented two classes: one was a Christmas karaoke class for the seniors at the Menig facility at Gifford Hospital called Singing with a Pair of Friends. The other was a Pen Pals class in which we all wrote letters to our friends at Global Campus Chiang Mai in Thailand. Dan and Rick co-taught a baseball class; Vicki shared her passion for Shirley Temple, and Lisa taught about Honkey Tonk music. Cheryl offered a Music and Dance class and Kim taught drawing, both classes were offered at Pleasant Street House in Randolph. Missy shared a class on making salads and her twenty years of experience preparing them for McDonald’s and Kathi taught about snowshoeing. Even though there wasn’t any snow, she still demonstrated by snowshoeing down the hallway!

Our campus adopted a few new initiatives this term including allowing for more space for participants to respond to questions, in case someone might need extra time to think. We also accepted more leadership by taking over the facilitation of the Campus Seminar. Each week someone new volunteers to lead the group through the agenda and create a new agenda for the next week. Rena, Rick, Ann, Vicki, and Dan all participated as facilitators this term. For our community service project, our campus decided to collect school supplies for children in need both here in our area and for children in Thailand. We’ll be collecting until the beginning of the spring term.

Shortly we’ll be kicking off our Winter Interim at Global Campus Randolph, exploring the legend of King Arthur in England while also learning about what life was like in Vermont several hundred years ago during the winter. This decision was a great process for our campus as we honored the voice of a participant who did not really want to travel this year. Stay tuned as our adventures unfold!

GC Bradford Celebrates Fall Term!

Global Campus Bradford has just completed an extremely successful Fall Term 2010! The fall term has been a buzz of fresh classes, new initiatives and campus projects. The GCF academic year theme is “Our Stories” and at Global Campus Bradford we spent some time early in the fall semester exploring and sharing our own unique stories and experiences through writing, storytelling, artwork, photography, and even some classes! Scott taught a class called “My Family Tree” sharing his family genealogy. Shawn presented about Lake Okeechobee in Florida, where she grew up. Aaron presented about his families favorite annual vacation spot: Cape Britton, Nova Scotia. Cathy taught a class about her experience of graduating from high school. We’ll be exploring “Our Stories” more throughout the upcoming Winter Interim and Spring Term 2011.

Other classes this fall included Beading Club, taught by Shawn, Fabric Coloration Workshop, offered by Jodi and Jeannie, and “24”, presented by Patrick. Robin taught a great three-part class entitled The Oil Spill in the Gulf. Lynn, a Global Campus resource person, offered a very informative and dynamic class on Banks. Dennis and Patty from Global Campus Springfield visited our campus later in the semester to present their classes on Jeff Gordon and The Kennedy Family, respectively. Scott represented our campus in attending a few classes at the Global Campus Shiremont Soft Term. GC Shiremont is a budding community supported campus in the White River/Lebanon area.

The core group of Global Campus Bradford accepted a new leadership opportunity this fall by taking over the facilitation of the Campus Seminar. Each week a new volunteer leads the group through our seminar agenda and then together we create a new agenda for the following week. Robin, Scott, Aaron, and Patrick all participated as facilitators. Another new initiative this fall was creating more space in our group to give more time for folks who might take longer to respond to a question to think about it and answer in their own time. A key initiative this fall was deciding to host a Community Connections Conference on February 7, 2011 at the Grace Methodist Church in Bradford to introduce our campus to the community and establish new connections and opportunities for our campus. The core group of GC Bradford is directing and implementing the event. For our community service project this fall we hosted a Halloween Benefit Dance and raised $94 to support our local food shelf and to help fund our Community Connections Conference.

Looking ahead to the Winter Interim, we’ll be exploring stories, legends and myths around the world as we travel and visit different countries. So far there is interest in traveling to Romania, Afghanistan and the Middle East, and Florida. Stay tuned as our adventures begin in mid-January!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

GC Chiang Mai Campus Update

Global Campus Chiang Mai recently completed its 2010 Academic Fall term with great success. They enjoyed their English class taught by a fellow participant. Since there is a mixture of levels of experience with English, in the next term they will have a basic class and a conversational class. Another class that was appreciated by all was the Movie class in which they viewed a variety of types of movies and then analyzed the movie. A few of the movie selections depicted the experience of disability such as Elephant Man and Emmanuel’s Gift. Upon reflection, the student participants said the benefits of the movie class are that it helps them to practice thinking and learning how to analyze, to practice noticing things, and to learn about other cultures. GCC participants look forward to their next academic term starting November 15th, and in the future they plan to have a class on how to be a good facilitator, an art class to practice creativity, and sign language classes. Similar to their colleagues in Vermont, they are also spending time with the 2010 curriculum theme, “Our Stories” which is contributing to a great cross cultural sharing.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

GCF Presents Conference in White River Junction, VT

Global Campuses Foundation was invited to present a conference at the Coolidge Hotel in White River Junction, VT on Saturday October 9th to share the Global Campus experience with the community as they consider initiating a campus in the area. Speakers and presenters included GCF Colleagues, Global Campus participants, and White River community members. Global Campus participants Scotty Silagyi, Chris Dubeau, Rick Holbrook, Melissa Campbell, and Patty Morrill embodied the essence of what it means to have a Global Campus in a community through their presentations of classes and by sharing with the audience as a panel discussion. GCF colleagues, Jim and Sheryl Tewksbury and Amy Miller, shared the details of how a campus is initiated, as well as the basic framework, philosophy, and methodology supporting a Global Campus. The audience asked many questions. Folks were tremendously excited about the prospect of a Global Campus in their community. Several potential participants in the audience shared some of their passions, questions, and comments with the audience. Several community members came up to speak positively to the audience about what they experienced and observed that day. The conference was a tremendous success and will be followed up by a series of community meetings including a fund development meeting on October 18th and an initial Campus Seminar with potential GC participants on October 22nd.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Global Campus Announces Fall Term Curriculum Theme: Our Stories

The GCF curriculum theme for the Fall Term 2010, which kicks off this week, is "Our Stories." GCF Academic Coordinators will be facilitating teaching and learning methodologies that foster the sharing of personal stories. In addition, the campuses will follow this theme by inviting guests such as storytellers, authors of biographies/autobiographies, etc. to present at their campus seminars. The theme will be integrated into each Faculty offering as well. Each Global Campus in Vermont and in Thailand will participate in this exploration, and along with personal stories, they may also choose to explore and share the story of their campus. Things are in the percolation stage regarding this curriculum theme with great anticipation of all of the possibilities it will engender. Follow our Blog to learn more as the fall term unfolds!

Friday, July 30, 2010

GC Moretown: Blueberries and Boating!

Todays Global Campus crew gathers at Blueberry Lake for some fun in the sun. The class begins with everyone bringing their own lunch to picnic down by the water. Melissa brought her truck and two of her kayaks. After lunch we all went out and picked as many blueberries as we could find. When we were done collecting we retreated back to the base of the lake and prepared to eat while others armed themselves for fun in the water. By 3:00p.m. the day came to a close and we went our separate ways, berries and belongings in hand and smiles on our faces.
By Lee Willsey Potter, GC Moretown participant

Monday, July 26, 2010

Global Campuses Foundation Prepares for its Second Decade

Global Campuses Foundation to launch a major funding campaign in the Spring of 2011.

Spring 2011 represents the conclusion of ten successful years for the foundation. The campaign entitled: “Global Campuses Foundation the 2nd Decade”, will bring financial support and underwriting to enact the Foundation’s next five-year growth plan. The final target for this campaign has not been determined, however it is anticipated that the campaign will run for about 24 months. The funding goal is intended to assure the strength and sustainability of the Foundation for the continuation and advancement of its mission.

Seed Campaign Underway

A seed campaign is currently underway to provide financial support to position GCF for success in meeting the major campaign goal of “GCF The 2nd. Decade”. The seed campaign goal is $100,000. To date GCF has realized $35,000. These funds will be used to directly support the material, programmatic and organizational expenses to develop and administer the major funding campaign. There are many levels at which one can support the Seed Campaign, through individual donations or corporate underwriting. For further information about the GCF seed Campaign please request information from donate@globalcampuses.org.

GCF Thailand Site Visit 2010

The annual GCF site visit to Chiang Mai, Thailand took place from January to March 2010. As always the time is filled with many exciting educational activities sponsored by the Global Campus participants there. For example, the Director of Global Campus Chiang Mai, Yutthaphon Damrongchuensakun, lead a dynamic project for which he had written and received a grant of 190,000 baht ($6,000) from Thai organizations. The project focused on assessment of accessibility at major recreational and cultural venues in Chiang Mai province. The campus participants designed an educational approach in which different groups of 8-10 campus participants with varying abilities (across the spectrum of disabilities including aging) traveled to 9 sites and noted accessibility challenges. For many, this was their first opportunity to visit Thailand’s famous places such as the highest mountain, royal gardens, hot springs and temples, so the excitement was very high. After touring each site, they then immediately met in a prescheduled seminar to present to directors and staff members at each venue. The participants presented a historical perspective about societal attitudes and behaviors toward persons who experience disability to educate and raise awareness of their audience and then proceeded to address the specific accessibility issues at each venue. This proactive approach was very well received and appreciated by the directors and staff and lead to their affirmation to make changes in a timely manner. All agreed that not only will persons who experience disability benefit from updated accessibility, but every visitor, Thai and foreign, will also. A daylong culminating conference in March was held where all involved shared their findings and planned for future educational projects as a follow up. Yutthaphon has since reported that the sponsoring organizations reviewed his grant report and findings and identified the Global Campus Chiang Mai project as the best practices model. It is hoped they can apply the GCC Accessibility Model in other regions of Thailand and make a major difference.

Another outstanding project that Global Campus participants influenced was a Disability Short Film Festival and Awards Event. Students from various universities in the Northern region of Thailand competed in short film making about the issues related to experiencing disability. Kachakorn Thaveesri, GCF Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia, served as a film judge and co-organizer of this impressive event. Chiang Mai University graduate and undergraduate students involved in a club, Friends Beyond Physical, were the major sponsors of this event. Global Campus participants served as panelists and assisted with the various tasks related to such a big event. The short films were aired for a week at a large public venue in Chiang Mai so that a large population would have the opportunity to view the films and raise their awareness. The culminating event was the award ceremony for the outstanding filmmakers.

During this site visit, GCF administrators and Global Campus Chiang Mai administrators fulfilled an important goal in securing a university-wide memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chiang Mai University. Since 2006, GCF had formalized its long standing collegial relationship with this university in a MOU with the Faculty of Education; however this new agreement makes it possible for Global Campus participants to extend its ground breaking, influential work to more students and faculty in CMU’s 20 Faculties (Colleges). We look forward to sharing the impressive details of their educational activities in future newsletter articles and blog entries. Stay tuned!

Friday, July 16, 2010

GC Moretown: Annual Softball Game

A happy raucous crowd from Global Campus joins together today for fun and games. Todays event...softball. For most it is simply a time to have fun and hit the ball, however, some bring their competitive nature to the field. Teams are formed, pitches are thrown, and laughs are had, and assistance given to those who need it. Even the few on the bench are having such fun they begin to play as well. When the six innings are over everyone gives a friendly congratulations, makes plans for next week, and goes their separate ways. This game was a project of Global Campus and all participants involved in an effort to display the importance of fitness and fun games.
-Lee Willsey Potter, Global Campus Moretown participant

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Campus 2 Campus Connections at Montshire Museum

This morning, 139 Global Campus participants and resource persons from across the state met at Montshire Museum in Norwich, VT for a Campus 2 Campus Connections experience. We all gathered at the museum around 10:30 and formed a large pod outside the front door in the delightfully hot sunshine. After sticking nametags on our shirts we split up according to our interests. Some folks went upstairs in the museum, others went downstairs, and a third group went for a short nature walk on one of the many trails. There was a tremendous amount of excitement and enthusiasm as folks explored all the fantastic exhibits and displays. Before long we were all gathered outside eating lunch. The water exhibit outside was a big hit in the hot afternoon sun! The day provided a fantastic opportunity to see old faces and make some new friends as well. I had a great time asking folks from all over what they were thinking about teaching during the not too distant fall term! Congratulations to all the Vermont Global Campus participants on another successful Campus 2 Campus experience!

A big thank you to Montshire Museum for generously donating free admission to all the campuses!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

GC Springfield: Community Service Project


On June 15, 2010, a warm summer day at the Springfield Fire Department, Global Campus Springfield participants enthusiastically washed a few dozen cars and sold even more baked goods for their Community Service Project fundraiser. This term, participants decided to raise money for Nirikshea, a school in southern India for homeless children. Participants were inspired to raise money for this worthy cause after learning about Nirikshea during a Winter Interim presentation about India. Our fundraiser raised $240.00 which will help provide school supplies as well as food and clothing for the children!

Pam Fitzgerald, Academic Coordinator
GC Springfield


Tuesday, June 1, 2010

GC Bradford Spring Update

This has been a tremendously successful academic year for Global Campus Bradford. The capstone of the fall term was the fall conference in Burlington where Scott, Shawn, Robin, and Patrick all taught classes and participated on panel discussions. We were all very proud to share all about the successes at our campus with several hundred people who were part of this event.

During the Winter Interim we traveled the world with a flight simulation experience the first week to learn more about what is happening in different parts of the world. We each chose a different country to focus on for the duration of the Winter Interim. Robin explored Thailand, Patrick went to Mexico, Scott journeyed in Iraq, Shawn traveled to Africa, Jeannie checked out the green hills of Scotland, Cathy was in Central America, Jodi explored the culture of Copenhagen, and Carol visited Australia. Our travels culminated in a festival and giant board game that we all created together during the term.

The core group of Global Campus Bradford presented some inspiring classes this spring term. Scott presented on Barbara Eden and “I Dream of Jeannie”, Patrick made us all sweat in his Wii Fitness class, and Jeannie shared her love of keyboarding. Robin was so inspired by her travels to Thailand during the Winter Interim that presented three classes on the country during the spring term. Shawn was also touched during the Winter Interim learning about hunger and AIDS in Africa so she presented a fantastic class on Tanzania. Global Campus Bradford is blessed with a committed group of resource persons who also love to teach! Lynn taught a great class on Money, Nate brought in his enormous sled dog, Ootek, Carol shared her passion for Farmville blown up on a projector, Michelle shared a photography class, and Jodi presented about Mount Washington.

Two highlight of our semester involved the Campus to Campus Connections program. Hudson and his support person, Matt, visited our campus from Global Campus Springfield to present a class on Facilitated Communication. We also had the opportunity to travel to GC Springfield as a core group to visit their campus and participate in a few classes. These were both exciting and enriching experiences, we all can’t wait to do more with other campuses!

Our semester culminated in a wildly successful Spring Break Dance and Awards Ceremony! Nate was the DJ pumping out beach tunes and the Outback (where our campus meets each week) was decorated with beach towels, beach chairs and umbrellas, and beach balls. As folks arrived in their beach attire they each received a lay. Jodi blended some delicious smoothies that were topped of with little umbrellas. It truly felt like spring break! We raised about $40 in donations for our campus at the event and collected non-perishable donations for the local food shelf.

Congratulations Global Campus Bradford!

GC Hardwick Spring Update

Global Campus Hardwick completed a vibrant Winter Interim study of world festivals, including recreating Santa Lucia from Sweden, Crop-Over Festival from Barbados and Australia Day. The group enjoyed food, music and celebration from around the world.

The campus kicked-off its spring term with a visit to the Greensboro Free Library before beginning their sixteen course offerings. The campus made a few logistical changes to their regular sessions and decided to begin their session at 12:00 on Wednesdays, gathering early for lunch and announcements. The campus also initiated a new ritual at the campus – the interactive activity. Each week, someone from the group leads an interactive activity to get the group up and moving. Some activities included drama workshops, team building exercises, hot potato and more.

As always, the group enjoyed a variety of course offerings. The group recreated the first ever Global Campus Fictional Story, using story-telling methods developed by Diane, Tina and Helen. The story took the group to New York and on many adventures throughout the city. Global Campus Hardwick also enjoyed a few specialty-cooking classes, including Donut Making and Chocolate Lollipops. The Chocolate Lollipop class proved so successful that Connor re-taught the class for the end of year celebration.

To give back to the community, Global Campus Hardwick held a green-up and planting day at Greensboro Bend Church. The group walked around Greensboro Bend picking up trash, collecting two large bags full of trash. The group then planted four pots with annuals to beautify the entrances of the church.

Global Campus Hardwick ended the term with a Global Campus Open House event. The group wrote a press release to include in the Hardwick Learning Exchange Newspaper and to read over the radio. The event ended up as more of an internal affair (although one guest did attend). During the Open House, the group reminisced about the Spring Term highlights and shared stories about favorite Global Campus moments.

Congratulations, Global Campus Hardwick Participants, for a tremendously successful term!

GC Moretown Spring Update

Global Campus Moretown has recently completed an extremely successful and exciting academic year. The Fall Conference in Burlington was a tremendous highlight of the fall term for many participants as we all shared our campus with several hundred people. Neil, Dave, Curtis and Rhonda all presented successful classes at the event. It was amazing and wonderful to experience how proud we are of our campus and folks really responded to that!

We traveled all over the world for our Winter Interim experience this year. We began with an experiential flight simulation and tour of the planet using Google Earth. For the first few weeks we immersed ourselves in a study of Thailand, learning about architecture by building a Thai Spirit House, exploring Thai Buddhism by becoming monks for an afternoon, and experiencing different aspects of Thai food and culture. In honor of the Haiti earthquake that happened in the midst of our travels, we spent an afternoon learning about Haiti and talking about the effects of the earthquake. We participated in a ceremony together, sending our prayers and intentions to all those affected by the earthquake and simulated what it might be like to live under a tarp by performing our ceremony under one.

This event spurred further interest in helping the people of Haiti so Global Campus participants put together a benefit to raise money for the devastated country. Hearts for Haiti T-Shirts were printed and sold, CD’s of Haitian music were created and decorated and sold, there was a benefit dance, Phil even sold some of his famous canned goods as a benefit! Upper Valley Services, our partnering agency, matched our contributions and we raised just over $2000. The money was sent down directly with a local Moretown woman who runs the ambulance in town and is part of a spiritual relief organization that has been involved in Haiti for several decades.

Our spring term has been a flurry of really fun and interesting classes. Neil taught everyone how to build birdhouses, Mary Jane and Dennis presented a slideshow of their travels in Guatemala this past fall, Roy taught us all how to go bowling, Matt taught a spring break workshop in the hot tub at The Bridges resort, and Dave hosted us at his apartment for a class on his Dynotalk Augmentative Communication Devise, as well as a new program he has for his computer to assist him in communicating. Matt got us all together for a Green Up Walk, picking up trash in our community, Curtis shared how he takes apart, fixes, and reassembles his matchbox cars (he’s quite the mechanic), and along the way we planted some seedlings for our summer garden and had a grand time making ice cream in a zip lock bag!

We celebrated our successes at the end of May with a barbecue and picnic at Waterbury Reservoir. Neil felt it was important for everyone to receive a trophy in honor of their hard work, I believe that was a first for a Global Campus! It was the perfect way to celebrate, smelling the grill, tossing a Frisbee, and wiping watermelon juice off our faces.

GC Newport Spring Update

Global Campus Newport finished a stellar spring semester with a certificate celebration on May 27, 2010. Global Campus Newport began their Spring Term with the implementation of a few new campus seminar techniques. The participants rotated through the role of campus facilitator and took responsibility for editing the campus agenda and ensuring that the announcements were appropriate for the campus. The group also implemented an interactive activity in between Campus Seminar and Teaching and Learning Class. The activity was utilized to get people up and moving, with clear heads, ready to learn. Activities ranged from movement exercises to group games and activities.

Global Campus Newport used the Campus Seminar time this term to promote community awareness for Global Campus and the band Flame, which came to Newport in early April. The group made posters and participated in community outreach activities to raise awareness about the campus and disability rights. Their efforts were rewarded with an article in the Newport Daily Express, which highlighted two classes and the successes of the campus.

This spring term, Global Campus Newport Staff focused on brainstorming new projects and events for the Northeast Kingdom Campuses. The campus came up with a long list of trips, events and experiences that they would like to participate in. The group then spent time researching the cost of the events and brainstorming ways to fund the experiences. Together, the staff developed a grant proposal that they intend to send to local foundations, banks and business people. The proposal describes the Newport campus and invites foundations to support the educational endeavors of the three NEK campuses.

Global Campus Newport worked hard this term to develop a total of twenty-five course offerings. Courses ranged from old favorites, such as Bernie’s Walking Class and Photography with Tim and Jim, to new courses on the History of Malaysia, Ice Cream Making and UFOs. The group also had a visit from the local radio station, MOO 92. As always, the classes proved to be very rich and full of new learning opportunities. Campus participants pushed each other to attend more classes and participate in as many events as possible.

Global Campus Newport began a new program this spring, The Global Campus Academy. The group welcomed the addition of two high school students to their campus, one from Lake Region High, one from North Country High. These students were given a brief orientation to the campus and then invited to participate in course offerings and campus events. The Academy is growing and has become a great opportunity for the current participants to serve as mentors to younger students.

Congratulations to all Global Campus Newport participants for completing their seventh academic year!

GC Randolph Spring Update

What a great year for Global Campus Randolph! The highlight of our fall term was participating in the Fall Conference in Burlington. Rick, Missy and Rena all participated as faculty presenters and served on panel discussions at the event. We were very proud to share our campus with several hundred people!

During our Winter Interim we experienced a flight simulation and a trip around the world on the first week. We then learned about the earthquake that devastated Haiti and spent several weeks planning for, learning about, and traveling to Mars. We were particularly interested in exploring the possibility of life on the Red Planet. Our travels finished with a Mars party at Pleasant Street House where Jonathan shared some fascinating space documentaries with us.

This spring term we were all very impressed with how far we have all come as faculty at our campus! The classes this semester were fresh, full of experience and new ideas, and all were very fun. Jonathan taught a fantastic new class with Rena called Theme Song Trilogy, engaging participants at our campus together with a large audience at the Menig Facility at Gifford Hospital in a TV theme song trivia game. Kathi taught us how to dance, Peg shared her passion for National Geographic magazines, Dann and Rick showed us their moves on the Basketball court, Joe shared his love of the TV show “Beverly Hillbillies”, and Edie had folks over to her home for a six week book on tape series. Kim and Cheryl led our campus in a Green Up Walk through the streets of Randolph. Rena shared her love of Karaoke with the folks at Menig. Rick, Missy and Lisa captivated the same audience with a Piano Concert by Rick and an Elvis Dancing class by Missy and Lisa. Missy also taught a fantastic class on the History of McDonald’s.

During our campus staff meeting and campus seminar this semester we have been learning about and participating in the process of writing a grant. As a campus we are interesting in broadening our educational horizons with a number of experiences outside of our local area as well as connecting more with other campuses across the state. We also worked on exploring different teaching audiences in our area and experienced a great success with that project by offering several classes for folks that live at Menig, an assisted living wing of Gifford hospital.

We celebrated our successful teaching and learning experiences at the end of May with an Awards Barbecue at Pleasant Street House. The weather was fantastic and we had a great time socializing together and remembering all the good times we had together this term. Smoothies and watermelon were the highlight f the afternoon!

GC St. Johnsbury Spring Update

Global Campus Springfield has enjoyed a full academic year! After a busy Fall Term of classes and participating in the Global Campuses Foundation Fall Conference, we spent Winter Interim learning about Tanzania, Turkey, India and Thailand. During Winter Interim, a guest speaker, Rick Blaisdell, shared about his work in India with a school for orphaned children and we also Skyped with participants from Global Campus Chiang Mai. We shared information about our cultures and many laughs!

This spring, we began to hold Campus Staff Meetings before Campus Seminar. This has been a great learning opportunity as well as an opportunity for participants to take on leadership roles. Campus participants also formed two committees-a grant development committee to work on grants for educational experiences and a finance committee to develop procedures and address issues such as Student Activity fees and purchasing class supplies.

Global Campus Springfield also produced a yearbook which was recently released. It contains beautiful photographs of various classes as well as many group photographs. It was a great way to capture our academic year and the growth of Global Campus Springfield.

Our Community Service project this term was a fundraiser to support the orphaned school children in India that we learned about during Winter Interim. We held a car wash and bake sale on June 15th at the Springfield Fire Department which raised $240.00.

We love to have visitors at Global Campus Springfield so please visit anytime!

GC St. Johnsbury Spring Update

Global Campus St. Johnsbury kicked off their Spring Term with a Snow Day event, held at Lyndon Outing Club. The event was lucky to coincide with a blizzard, one of the few snowy days of the year, and the group had a great time building snowmen, sledding, snow shoeing and playing games inside the lodge.

New this term, the campus designed the Intensive Study Unit. The group wanted the opportunity to offer extended classes during the Wednesday meetings. These units met for two weeks at the end of the term and allowed four faculty members to offer intensive studies on a topic of their choice. The Intensive Study Units offered were Living On Our Own, Bag Making, Greek Mythology and Wonderful Weaving.

Cristy and Levi’s Chorus Club continued throughout the semester. The club met weekly at the Unitarian Church and performed America the Beautiful at the Global Campus Hardwick talent show. The group plans to continue their singing throughout the summer and combine with a few other groups – the Harmonica Club and Dancing with the Stars Class.

This term, the Global Campus St. Johnsbury Staff spent their time designing a community service project. The initial plan was to build picnic tables for a raffle, which would sponsor a local charitable organization. The Staff wrote a proposal and solicited support from local businesses. In the end, the group opted to change the structure of the project and offer their services to Springfield College for picnic table varnishing. This project will take place on July 7.

Congratulations to Global Campus St. Johnsbury students for completing their seventh academic term!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

GC St. Johnsbury: Farm Visit

Early in the Spring Term, Marshall suggested it would be fun to visit Second Chance Farm and went about setting up the logistics of the visit. He works at the farm and wanted to show people around. We arrived and met his boss, Penny. Penny let Marshall lead the tour. We started with the freezers and storage and Marshall showed everyone where the meat and eggs are stored. Marshall brought out his egg scale, egg-collecting bin and egg cartons. He told the class that he is in charge of collecting the eggs, weighing them, cleaning them, and then putting them in cartons. He explained that some eggs are jumbo and some are small – this depends on the chicken, he explained. The scale had markers ranging from “too small” to “ouch!”

Next, Marshall led us down to the barnyard. Penny explained that she keeps her animals like they do in the movie Babe. Everyone lives together. We saw chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, geese and a lamb all in the same big barnyard. The pigs, Lucy and Ethel, were very popular. Lucy showed off rolling in the mud and splattering everyone’s pants with muddy water. Inside the barn, Marshall showed us the baby chicks.

Next, Marshall took us to the fields. He explained that Penny’s plan is to bring the chickens into the field in a moveable pen so they can fertilize the grass. As of now, cows, sheep, a goat and a llama live in the fields. Penny brought us out compost to feed the animals. Rosie loved feeding the cows and sheep and had fun throwing in loaves and loaves of old bread. Cristy made friends with the goat, Stars. Sharilyn said she was having a great time, which she never expected she would! Marshall hopped the fence and picked up a baby lamb for us to pat. Lastly, we went out to look at the beef cows. Penny moves them around to different parts of the pasture so they can graze at different levels of grass and clover. Regina showed interest in the cows and knew that cows without horns are called “polled.” We have a lot of farming knowledge in our group!

GC Springfield: Video Project

This spring term Global Campus Springfield participants were involved in a video project sponsored by Lincoln Street, Inc., our partnering agency, to highlight the Global Campus experience. During the filming, a number of participants were interviewed about their involvement with Global Campus and how the Global Campus experience has enhanced their lives by increasing their confidence and teaching them skills that they can use not only as Global Campus Faculty and Student Learners but in other areas of their lives as well.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

GC Newport: Ice Cream Making Class

Homemade Ice Cream class is fun for all! To begin, Kasey setup milk, sugar, vanilla, mixing bowls, blueberries, ice and rock salt in the front of the room and then walked the class through the process of making ice cream. She invited people up one-by-one to help mix the ingredients, and explained the process as she went. People contributed their knowledge – some recipes use eggs, some don't. Some people use electric ice-cream makers, some don't. After the batter was mixed, Kasey poured the milk into small zip-lock bags and placed the bags inside coffee cans. Next, she filled the coffee can with ice and rock salt and taped the lid closed. She demonstrated how to roll the can on the floor, back and forth, to help the ice cream freeze. Bernie volunteered to roll the can, and she got down on the floor, putting all her effort into the can rolling. Kasey also showed how the zip lock bag could be placed inside a larger bag, also filled with ice and rock salt, and the bags could be shaken to freeze the ice cream. We had two methods going at once.

There was so much ice cream batter that almost everyone in the class of thirty was given a bag or tin can to shake. The room came alive, people got down on the floor and walked around shaking bags and laughing – everyone had a lot of energy. We had a few adventures of leaking bags and salty clothes and soon learned that condensation forms quickly on the cold ice cream makers. After about twenty minutes our first batch was ready to taste. People commented that the consistency was similar to a creamy or a milk shake. The ice cream tasted great – there’s nothing like homemade ice cream!

Friday, May 7, 2010

GC Moretown: Green Up Walk

The day starts outside Middlesex on River Road with a lively crew from Global Campus Moretown. This is a class on Greening Up taught by Matthew Hersey. We go out on this project as a belated Green Up Day to collect litter left behind by our neighbors and to improve the environment. We go up and down the sides of the road finding recyclables, mailboxes, cardboard, and metal. Finding a way to dispose of these items and write for it is what brings us here on this beautiful day. The turnout of people for this project is fabulous…at least twenty people have joined to help the environment. As we walk down the dirt road I’m at the back of the pack but the effects of this effort are still clear on the faces of the adults. Clear joy, not only for the beautiful day, but for the chance to clean up their environment and make a difference. The day ends with a gathering of twenty to thirty bags of garbage to be collected and several piles of tires and metal on the side of the road.

By Lee Willsey Potter, GC Moretown Participant

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

GC Hardwick: We've Got Talent!

On May 4th, James hosted a talent show! He brought tablecloths, star confetti, star mobiles, and a karaoke machine to transform the Greensboro Bend Church into a place where stars are born. We pushed the tables back, set up rows of chairs facing a stage surrounded by stars and arranged a judges’ table to the side of the main stage. James prepared grading rubric and nametags for the judges.

As people arrived, a few people came in costume and others brought instruments. Cristy and Levi came from Global Campus St. J, dressed in red white and blue and carrying an American Flag. Debbie wore a Hawaiian dress and shirt and Kei brought his drum. Amy brought her fiddle. Melissa wore a leather coat and pants.

Almost everyone in the group performed for the talent show. Annie and Amanda performed a sign-song, where they signed the words and sang while Kei kept the beat on his drum. Lots of people performed Karaoke songs – some good country twang came through. Connor (and back-up dancers) performed YMCA. Melissa broke out her Flashdance skills. I played the fiddle. Cristy and Levi asked for audience participation for their A cappella song, This land is Your Land.

The judges had a hard time picking winners and ended up throwing the ribbons over their shoulders and announcing that everyone received first place. All participants and audience members received Achievement Awards for their performances.