Two Lexington teachers recently returned from exciting professional development trips to places they never imagined they would visit. Read about their journeys – and how they are paying it forward by incorporating their experiences into their classrooms.
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A Meaningful Exchange
By Brad Becker
On a recent trip to Cuba, Sayre Lower School art teacher Georgia Henkel fulfilled long-term professional goal to establish a children's art exchange in an underserved area. Click here to read.
Janet Shedd and giant tortoise
A Whole New World
By Melissa McCaughan
Providence Montessori teacher Janet Shedd's voracious inquisitiveness recently landed her a spot on a National Geographic-funded trip to the Galapagos Islands. Click here to read.
A Meaningful Exchange
Georgia Sayre Shirt
by Brad Becker
In a recent trip to Cuba, Sayre Lower School art teacher Georgia Henkel fulfilled a long-term professional desire to establish a children’s art exchange.
Made possible through a summer sabbatical grant from Sayre, the trip gained momentum last January. Visiting family in Florida, Henkel wandered into a small gallery on Anna Maria Island that was featuring an exhibit with artists from Baracoa, Cuba, an isolated community on the easternmost tip of the island.
As Henkel tells it, that ounce of curiosity led to one of the richest experiences of her life.
Henkel has always sought to provide her students with an authentic creative experience and had long desired to connect them with young artists in a more obscure and underserved area – a place where a youth art exchange had not been pursued before.
“My mind started racing as I wandered through the gallery, because I could sense that Baracoa was a small community with little access to global information,” she said.
Inspired by the art exhibit and the potential of the remote Cuban village, Henkel reached out to the organizer of the exhibit, Soledad Pagliuca, who is also the founder of the Friendship Association, a non-profit with a mission to promote and foster meaningful educational and cultural exchanges with the Cuban people.
“Though she lives in St. Augustine, Soledad was excited about my idea and met with me to share her thoughts on the challenges and potential of a children’s art exchange in Baracoa,” said Henkel.
In Henkel’s first conversations with Pagliuca, she learned about the abundance of artistic expression in Cuba, a country that she explains “has always used culture to soften the face it presents to the world.” As she learned, many cites in Cuba are centered around a “Casa de Cultura.” Typically historic buildings that are closely monitored and run by the government, these centers serve as community and tourist hubs, and host performances and art studios. They also serve as the official place where students who have been identified as “gifted” in the arts can come and work with professional musicians, dancers and artists.
“Cuba has always used culture to soften the face it presents to the world,” Henkel said. “I quickly realized that all Cuban children are given a unique and beautiful arts immersion at a very young age.
“Having so few distractions lends itself to a calmer, sometimes more introspective and focused way of life,” she added.
But Henkel also learned about the challenges of a children’s art exchange – not only in a remote city such as Baracoa, but also anywhere in a society that uses art primarily to convey ideology.
“While young artists in Cuba have freedom to explore materials, the subject matter must be related to one of the [Cuban] revolutionary leaders,” explained Henkel. “When looking at the children’s art, you see not only the repeated faces of these men but also images from their writings.”
After an initial four-day visit over her spring break to discuss the tentative details of the exchange with Baracoa’s Casa de Cultura leader Jorge Vinent – and subsequent discussions with the Cuban minister of culture – Henkel returned to Baracoa in July with a box of 20 paintings created by Sayre students. She had asked her students for submissions that would be representative of daily student art – pieces done at home or in classes and not directed by any particular theme. Exhibited at the Casa de Cultura and the city hospital, the art will remain in Baracoa for one year.
“The experience of sharing the Sayre artwork illustrated a clear difference in the freedom that we have in the United States to satisfy our curiosity by exploring our imagination, gleaning ideas from famous artists, and challenging ideas – freedoms we take for granted every day,” Henkel said.
Twenty paintings from young Cuban artists will be exhibited at the University of Kentucky’s Albert B. Chandler Hospital in January, but Henkel is launching the exhibit in the Sayre Buttery – the school’s cafeteria, which could be considered “Casa de Cultura” of the campus.
“We cannot know at this point how the art exchange will evolve over the years, but for the time being I am excited that when we gather in the Buttery for lunch or special events, our entire school community will have an opportunity to view and talk about these wonderful paintings created by the children from Baracoa,” Henkel said.
A Whole New World
Janet Shedd and sea lion
By Melissa McCaughan
It was Lexington resident Janet Shedd’s voracious curiosity about the world that fueled her long career as a journalist, first as a reporter with the Dayton Daily News and UPI in Illinois and then as a page designer with the Lexington Herald-Leader. That same inquisitiveness led her to leave journalism behind nine years ago and become a teacher at Providence Montessori.
“Teaching in a Montessori classroom seemed a natural extension,” said Shedd. “Just as in journalism, you communicate ideas and hopefully awaken people’s curiosity about the world.”
And last December, it was Shedd’s inquisitive nature that led her to apply for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program, a professional development program that takes teachers to geographically significant areas they wouldn’t get to go on their own, such as Antarctica, Iceland and Norway. In February, Shedd got the highly anticipated call: Of more than 2,700 applicants, she was one of the 35 accepted for this year’s program, which is made possible by a partnership between National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. She was going on an expedition to the Galapagos Islands.
“I let out a huge yell, I was so excited,” said Shedd.
To apply for the program, which is open to K-12 teachers in North America, applicants were asked to submit several essays about the importance of geography in education. They were asked to describe how they would share their experiences with students and the community, and what they believe their role is in preparing students to become stewards of the natural world.
The second Kentuckian ever accepted in the program, Shedd understands that role as showing children the world extends beyond their school, house, town and country.
“I want them to understand that all of us live on the same Earth, and that if a species disappears, or if trash pollutes our oceans, it affects all of us,” she said. “These children are going to grow up to become our leaders, so it’s important that they understand these concepts.”
In September, Shedd and a high school teacher from the Canadian Arctic, along with several guides (primarily Ecuadorians, some of whom had grown up on the Galapagos Islands), embarked on a weeklong adventure to the remote group of islands. Located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, the archipelago is famous for being the birthplace of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and is host to a variety of plant and animal life not found anywhere else on earth.
“To be where Darwin studied was truly exciting,” said Shedd. Upon visiting the Galápagos in 1835, Darwin’s theory of evolution was sparked after observing that animals, such as tortoises, were similar throughout the archipelago but had distinct traits from island to island, which he took as an indication that they had evolved from common ancestors to adapt to differences in their environments.
Shedd was stunned by the abundance of wildlife on and around the islands, from birds and lizards and red crabs to sea lions, reef sharks and sea turtles.
“It’s like no other place on Earth – you feel like you are the first human to be there in a place that’s so full of life,” she continued. “I had done a lot of reading on the Galapagos before I went, but nothing really prepares for the reality of these islands.”
During her trip, Shedd’s students, who range in age from 6 to 9, followed her blog while she was there. She got to be the eyes and ears of the Galapagos for the students, who had studied Darwin’s voyage and findings before she left.
“The students were enthralled by my ability to see and touch these animals,” said Shedd, whose eyes light up as she reminisces about her experience. Because very few people live on the islands, animals aren’t afraid of humans, and she was able to experience close encounters with giant tortoises, sea turtles, iguanas, sharks and a variety of birds. Penguins are small but zip past like speeding cars, Shedd said – one was clocked at 32 mph.
Every day, the group visited a different island for a new adventure. The vivacious teacher with short blonde hair looks ready to take on the world as she reminisces on her journey.
“Snorkeling there was almost a spiritual experience,” said Shedd. “The sea lions would come up and play with us. To have the chance to observe that kind of wildlife that closely, to take it in and be with nature – you don’t get to do that in daily life.”
For more photos and details about Shedd’s trip, visit her blog: galapagosjourney.weebly.com.