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!

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

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 15^{th 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!