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

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!

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

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!