THE BIG EVENT!

 On Monday June 11th, Global Campuses Bradford, Randolph, and Moretown celebrated their 5th year anniversary at The Big Event, presented by Global Campuses Foundation. The assembled audience of Campus Ambassadors, friends, family, and dignitaries rose as the campus participants proceeded in to the hall at Our Lady of the Angels Church in Randolph, accompanied by live music performed by Tony Mason. Susan Wehry, M.D, the commissioner for DAIL, opened the morning ceremony with a heartfelt speech congratulating the campus participants on their success, excellent reputation, and hard work. Jim and Sheryl Tewksbury, and Andreas John also shared their praise, congratulations and reflections on the impact the campus participants have created in their communities over the past five years. Bill Ashe, Executive Director of Upper Valley Services, Dennis Gray, Director of UVS Moretown, Joan Carman, Director of UVS Randolph, and Lorraine Gaboriault, Director of UVS Bradford, were all presented with certificates recognizing their unique contributions to the successful five year partnership of GCF and UVS. Jason Richardson, CFO of ARIS Solutions, was presented with the Global Vision Award for his continued commitment and dynamic engagement with GCF. 

 Later in the ceremony each campus was recognized as a group and then each participant came to the front to receive a transcript, detailing the classes they attended at their campus over the past five years. Faculty participants also received a faculty portfolio, with a description of the classes they taught over that same time period. 

The morning ceremony came to a close with loud applause, cake, and many personal congratulations for each campus participant. After the ceremony, the Campus Ambassadors representing the eight VT and NH Global Campuses, enjoyed a lunch together and spent time sharing their work and planning for future Campus-to-Campus Connections events.

Congratulations to all the Campus Participants and Resource Persons who are a part of the Global Campus Communities in Bradford, Randolph, and Moretown. You are all amazing!

Global Campus Randolph Celebrates Its 5th Academic Year with Certificate Day and Participation in the Big Event

Participants at Global Campus Randolph had much to celebrate this spring!  They recently completed their 5^th academic year as a Global Campus!  On June 7^th, they celebrated this milestone and the end of Spring Term 2012 with a potluck lunch at Pleasant Street house and a certificate award ceremony.  The educational offerings this term had something for everyone!  Classes included Book Club, exercise (Jazzercise and One Mile Walk), Theme Song Trilogy, many sports classes (basketball, baseball, bocce, and bowling), Global Campus Jam Session with guitarists Lisa and Rick, Creative Drawing and a Special Olympics Interactive class with Global Campus Shiremont.

On June 11, participants joined with their friends, family, ambassadors from the Vermont and New Hampshire campuses and celebrated their 5^th year anniversary together with participants from Global Campus Bradford and Global Campus Moretown.  They received a transcript of all the classes they have taken and a portfolio of the classes they have taught.  A great ending to a successful term!

GCF Web Platform Change

Global Campuses Foundation is undergoing a web platform change over the next few weeks so please bear with us if anything is amiss on the GCF website or Blog during that time. Everything should be back to normal by the end of July. Thanks for your patience!

Global Campus Springfield Celebrates Another Successful Academic Term!

On May 26, 2012, Global Campus Springfield participants celebrated another successful academic term.  Participants gathered at Stoughton Pond Recreation Area in Weathersfield, Vermont for a pot luck lunch, music, frisbee and the awarding of certificates.

This term's classes featured a variety of educational offerings including classes about the fire fighting heroes of September 11th, Asian cooking using a wok, Irish dance, an Elton John review and many more!  Congratulations to all participants!

GC Bradford Hosts Benefit for Bradford Historical Society

On Friday May 4th, Global Campus Bradford hosted a spaghetti supper at the Grace Methodist Church. Participants created the event as a community service project to benefit the Bradford Historical Society. Our theme this year is Building Community and in Bradford participants have enjoyed a strong focus on learning about their local history. This event was a way for participants to thank members of the Historical Society for a tour of their museum, and a guest presentation on Bradford's history at their campus by Mark Johnson, a member of the historical society. 


Months of planning and preparation went into the supper with many organizations in the community helping out including the Old Church Community Theater, Bradford Historical Society, Grace Methodist Church and the Colatina Bakery. The dinner was expertly planned to coincide with opening night at the Old Church Community Theater across the street! Shawn and Robin, two dedicated GC Bradford participants, volunteered their time on the night of the event, setting everything up, preparing and serving the food, and cleaning up.


"We served 50 people! Jim and Sherry Tewksbury came. We raised $250 to donate to the Bradford Historical Society! We had leftovers that we donated to the church." - Robin and Shawn


The campus participants plan to hold a check ceremony on May 22nd to formally present the funds to the Historical Society. Thank you to everyone in our community who helped to support this event and congratulations to the campus participants on a tremendous community service project!

Global Campus Springfield Hosts A Community Connections Conference

On March 20, 2012, Global Campus Springfield participants hosted a conference at the Nolin-Murray Center in Springfield, VT. Participants were involved in every aspect of preparing for the conference including choosing the venue, deciding what food to serve and designing the invitations and program. At the conference, their self-confidence and leadership skills shone through as they participated as speakers, teachers and presenters. Their thoughts about the conference confirm that it was a great learning experience for everyone!

It was pretty great! by Keegan

I like to teach-my class was great! by Patty

This was my first experience teaching at a conference. I had a lot of fun. by Patrick

I thought everyone enjoyed my presentation. by Bernie

I liked seeing all the people. It was fun to be on the panel. by Teri

It was easier than presenting at other conference. I think my class went pretty well. by Chris

I sang Summer Nights from Grease! by Randy

I had fun teaching but was nervous. It was the first time I used a microphone. by Molly

"Connecting Our Vermont Communities" Conference at Lyndon State College

Global Campuses Newport, St. Johnsbury and Hardwick presented a dynamic conference at Lyndon State College on April 4th celebrating the interconnectedness of all our Global Campuses and our communities. We wrote a grant in the fall to the Vermont Community Foundation and were awarded the Green Mountain Fund to connect with the other Global Campuses.

"I was the welcome speaker with Steve and Michelle from GC St. Johnsbury. I liked all the classes and speaking with GC Thailand on SKYPE. I liked connecting with the other campuses." - Donna

"I liked my T-shirt! I wore it on stage with my sunglasses for my drumming and singing."

- Buddy

"Participants from St. Johnsbury made films about themselves, we could do that too!" - Steve

"I liked teaching about Elk." - Tammy

"Donna and I got up and did the presentation when we first got there and everyone was pleased." - Steve

"I liked visiting with the other campuses, hopefully we can do something like this again soon!" - Donna

"The food was great!" - Nate

"We all had a blast!" - GC Newport

Global Campus Calendars Online!

We have updated GCF's website! Check it out by browsing through the "USA Campuses" tab and exploring each Global Campuses individual page. For each campus you will find a calendar with classes and events. Just click on any class or event for more information about it. You can also switch the calendar from a monthly to a weekly format. A few of the campuses have not yet posted their Spring Term 2012 calendars so please stay tuned for those and contact us for the information you might need in the meantime by emailing aej@globalcampuses.org or calling 802-274-2190.

Wonderful News From Thailand

Global Campuses Foundation is happy to announce the recent marriage of Kachakorn Thaveesri (Ka), GCF Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator, and Yutthaphon Damrongchuensakun (Non), Director of Global Campus Chiang Mai, on February 24, 2012. Sheryl and James Tewksbury, GCF Directors, attended and were honored to be included in the very traditional northern Thai wedding ceremony, which took place at the Thaveesri family home. February 24th is believed to be the most auspicious day of this year, and therefore brings couples good luck in their married life. Ka and Non have been the key administrators of the Global Campuses network in Thailand for 10 years. In 2008, they visited the Vermont campuses for a two month teaching and learning exchange. The Global Campuses family extends its heartfelt congratulations to Ka and Non for a happy and long life together. Please enjoy the photos of their wedding and explanations about the traditional northern Thai ceremony rituals.

These three photos show the tradition of the groom's family waiting outside of the ceremony grounds until 9:39 a.m. to begin the processional. The number 9 is believed to be very lucky. As we enter the sala where the ceremony will take place, rose petals are thrown on our feet. The original tradition is to wash the feet.

The tradition is that the groom's parents present gifts to the bride's parents to show their gratitude for them giving their daughter to their son. The gifts are called a dowry and were gold rings and necklace, a large bundle of Thai money, and some very special certificates. Ka and Non wore northern Thai style clothing.

The couple give each other wedding rings and then the parents and friends come up and bless the couple by winding white string around their wrists and saying special wishes. Ka and Non then went to their parents and Jim and Sherry and thanked them with gifts. These are fresh jasmine buds and roses in a traditional arrangement.

After the ceremony at Ka's family home, the guests posed with the couple and then went to lunch at a lovely restaurant on the Ping river. Then Ka and Non went to the government office to officially register their marriage.

GC Randolph Explores Ancient Greece

This Winter Interim we have been learning about Ancient Greece. We learned about Greek gods and goddesses like Zeus, Dionysus, and Poseidon. We read exciting myths. We spent an afternoon at the Kimball Library reading about Ancient Greece. The Olympic games came from Ancient Greece, but they didn’t play modern sports like basketball. The events had to do with war, like running, javelin, discus, and chariot racing. Dates, grapes, and spanakopita are some of the Greek foods we tasted. We even made some Greek jewelry!

We are getting ready to celebrate our travels with an Ancient Greek potluck!

By Global Campus Randolph

GC Bradford Adventures in Time

Continuing our Academic Year Theme of Building Community, we decided to travel in time this Winter Interim, exploring the history of our local community. The Women’s Group put their questions in our “Test the Travelers” question box and we went to the Newbury Library to look up the answers. Here they are!

Did you know…..

The Bliss Hotel is haunted?

Water boxes were places in town where horses could stop and drink?

Tanya Aebi, from Topsham, was the first woman to sail alone around the world?

The movie Beetlejuice was filmed in East Corinth?

In 1870 there were 4.3 cows for every person in Vermont?

To finish our Winter Interim, we visited the Vermont History Museum and the State House in Montpelier. Jeannie enjoyed listening to the antique radio while Scott liked the room on the era of the railroad. Robin was interested in the Vermont Constitution. Did you know that Vermont abolished slavery in our constitution almost a century before the civil war? We also bumped into and introduced ourselves to Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott while at the State House!

By The Global Campus Bradford Core Group

Global Campus Shiremont Has A Successful Start To Its First Full Academic Year!

Global Campus Shiremont began its first full academic year this past fall. The Fall Term offered a variety of educational offerings including topics such as Ocean Biology, Cool Crafts, Musical Mystery Tour, Country Line Dancing, Learning about Butterflies, Hike the Rail Trail, Starman and Nascarman (a CB radio class), Woodland Animals and Be Cyber Smart. Participants recently shared some of their thoughts about the Fall Term:

I only took one class about website safety. It was an interesting class and taught me a lot. By Quinn

I liked Maranda and Carla’s jewelry class. It was fun. By Daphne

My mom taught a class at Lebanon College and she gave me good ideas to teach about my interests. Kim helped me and it felt good to have someone on your side. By Ashley I liked the Cyber Smart class and cooking at the Haven for our Community Service project. By Stacey I taught about nature and exercise in my Hike the Rail Trail class. My class went really well and everyone listened to me. We had good weather for our hike. By Nissah

Designing the Future Universal Design Curriculum: Global Campus Complex

Imagine a state of the art universal design Global Campus Complex in Chiang Mai Thailand. That’s what 11 advanced students from the Faculty of Architecture at Chiang Mai University, CMU, had been doing in their recent academic semster. Taking their imaginations further, each student actually designed their envisionment of such a complex. On December 21, 2011, they presented for final review their design concepts at a culminating event honoring their collaboration with Global Campus Chiang Mai participants regarding disability awareness and universal design. Certificates and prizes were awarded.

CMU Vice president, Dr. Amnat, and Architecture Faculty, Dr. Vittul formally commented about the educational process as a great success with CMU students participating in disability simulation workshops, interviewing persons who experience disability to become aware of the culture of disability, and learning about serving their “customer” by addressing their needs and desires through universal design concepts.

GCF sponsored a design contest as a part of this educational process challenging the students to create their model of a fully accessible campus complex for the future home of Global Campuses to serve as the hub for further expansion and development in the S.E. Asia region. The quality of the students’ work was impressive with design concepts attending to criteria such as environmentally green, accessible, blending comtemporary and traditional Lanna (northern) architectural features, and efficiency. Everyone involved expressed that they are eager to take this cutting edge educational experience to the next level of exploration in future academic semesters.