Pre-Expedition workshop

national geographic hq

WASHINGTON, D.C.

April 2023

APRIL 13 - APRIL 16

The evening before departure to the Pre-Expedition Workshop, I learned another of the 50 Grosvenor Fellows was also from the St. Louis, MO area!. Amazingly, we ended up on the same flight bound for Washington D.C., and she was gracious enough to save me a seat. A two-hour flight never passed so quickly as we learned more about each other, our educational journeys, and our excitement for this adventure ahead. We were extremely excited to begin collaborating! We discussed some curriculum connections between our two expeditions - mine to the islands of Iceland and Greenland and hers to the islands of Japan. While we are both exploring islands, the population density of our locations is vastly different, and that is a learning opportunity for us to work together to share with our students. Thanks, Grosvenor Fellow katie Lodes! This was the first of many collaborations ahead for us.

Photo Credit: 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Katie Lodes

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HEADQUARTERS

Shout out to 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Monika Moorman (photo credit top left) for helping pass the time with our own behind the scenes photos as we awaited our turn to get professional headshots from National Geographic Photographer, Mark Theissen. - Yes, I am wearing the National Geographic colors. No, it was not coincidental. #nerdalert

MY EXPLORING PARTNER

Everyone, meet 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Jill McNabnay. She teaches high school biology among other sciences in southern Michigan, and we are going to be exploring the Edges of the Arctic together over a course of 19 days on Lindblad's vessel, The National Geographic Explorer - Could the name of this ship BE any better?!

While she and I teach different grade levels and subjects, for me, that is what makes this partnership perfect! Each of us will explore this adventure from a different lens, and our take-aways will double.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PD WITH "YOUR PEOPLE"

When the teacher next to you shows up to professional development wearing this pin, you know you have found "your people". Thanks to my tablemate, 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Jander Talen for bringing the energy all the way from Calgary in Alberta, Canada! This experience is about learning from each other, exploring new ideas, moving our profession and classroom spaces forward, and helping inspire planet stewards. It was an absolute BLESSING to be surrounded by forty-nine other Grosvenor Fellows, some past Fellows, and National Geographic and Lindblad Expedition staff. You all continue to make me better.

BIOMIMICRY

This presentation brought all of us back to center. 2018 Grosvenor Fellow Daniel Kinzer explained the process of biomimicry as "an invitation to remember ourselves as part of nature". This message is important because many people have forgotten. We also went outside and did an exercise using the book, I-Sites, by Erin Rovato. Driving home the importance of integrating NATURE experiences in education, Daniel also quoted Carol Black's Essay: A Thousand Rivers: "Collecting data on human learning based on children’s behavior in school is like collecting data on killer whales based on their behavior at Sea World."

VISUALIZING WITH MAPS

To be in a National Geographic Headquarters meeting room while learning about mapping was a HIGHLIGHT! Speaking of lights, check out the personalized one on the ceiling of this meeting room - right on brand!

There are three things to think about when creating a map after determining your base layer.

What is the location/place to focus on?
What different types of information are you focused on?
What relationships are you hoping to analyze and show?

TRACKING OUR LEARNING

Slide: Kit Hoppman/National Geographic

Former Grosvenor Fellows came and shared their experiences, their own classroom inquiry projects based on their past expeditions, and tips for getting the most out of our expeditions.

One of my personal favorite take-aways was the deliverable created to help us journal and evaluate our Explorer's Mindset at the end of each day on the expedition. This process allows us to simply be THE LEARNER in this situation and focus on taking in as much as possible during the expedition.

STORYTELLING WITH PHOTOS

Cue the goosebumps! Getting to learn photo tips from a professional photographer and see her process for creating a photo story layout was INCREDIBLE! Alex Daley-Clark walked us through one of her photo stories about bead makers illustrating the key steps to photo storytelling. Each Grosvenor Fellow will be creating two photo stories of our own based on our upcoming expeditions.

Five Steps to a Photo Story:

1. Establishing shot

2. Starting to reveal some details

3. Provide emotional context

4. Additional context

5. End of the Story

Photography has long been a passion of mine, and I soaked up all I could from this session. We even had time to go outside and try out the new learning as the photographer came around to chat with us. Since I did not have my camera, I used my cellphone. My subject today was architecture which was a big break from nature for me, but I liked it! I also decided to focus on capturing the images from a unique angle which was one of her tips to create interest.

Photo A - I used the panoramic feature in a vertical direction to capture the entire front of Charles Sumner School from up close.

Photo B- I wanted to focus on the pattern of the lines I noticed on the front of one of the National Geographic Headquarters buildings. Instead of taking the shot straight on, I lined myself up under the front of the building and shot it looking up the face of it.

One other tip we learned about cell phone photography came from Naturalist Linda Burback who will be on our vessel in the Arctic. Many of the Naturalists aboard the ships are also photo certified as well. Get low to the ground even with your phone on the ground. Flip the phone vertically so the camera end is pointing down. Tilt it so the now top angles away from your subject and shoot. This is a great strategy if there is a wildflower or if you are looking to show a different perspective.

TOURING HEADQUARTERS

As a map lover, I was in awe of the variety of maps everywhere even in the ceiling glass! Every elevator was covered in an image, and each elevator floor was marked with elevation! The branding theme continued throughout with the yellow rectangle office doors. This particular office was for Topography, and contour lines could be found decorating the walls within. Photos abounded every hall, obviously, and the one of Jane Goodall and the chimpanzee stopped me in my tracks...literally! I later learned some of these large staircase murals were painted by N.C. Wyeth!!! There was one particular sitting area near our meeting space that continued to intrigue me each time I passed until I finally determined what I thought I was seeing...Doesn't the last image on the bottom left look like icebergs in the background along the blue ocean couch with a seat emerging in front in what appears to possibly be the shape of a whale?! We were unable to tour the museum as it is under construction until 2026; however, we did see a video of the planned transformation. WOW! I will be making the trip back to see it completed!

EXPLORING WASHINGTON D.C. MONUMENTS AT NIGHT

This was my first trip ever to Washington D.C. I am extremely thankful to 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Tina Zacherl for organizing the night walk for some of us and to 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Cat Walker for her incredible tour guide abilities! The weather could not have been better during the two-hour walk. The architecture focus from the morning photo experience paid off as I was able to apply it again this evening when viewing these iconic structures.

washington monument

I won't say how long it took the thirteen of us to organize this photo! What I will say is that it took collaboration.

Eisenhower executive building

This building was even more massive than it looks. I am still in awe of this structure.

Lincoln memorial

I found this memorial and my experience appreciating it more beautiful from a distance.

a proposal!

As we walked by, I had a feeling something was up. Sure enough, he dropped to his knee, and we witnessed the YES in this proposal.

martin luther king, jr

I loved that he was built within and emerging from the rock. To me it showed strength as if the masses were right behind him still following his lead.

korean war memorial

I witnessed a leader pause with his group of 20+ teenagers before approaching this exhibit to explain the respect to be shown. Those teenagers went forward without a sound. Powerful.

educator explorers

2023 Grosvenor Fellow Catherine Fuller bought this map at the National Geographic store and asked each of the 50 Fellows for this year to plot their journey from Washington D.C. to their upcoming Expedition. The map was not quite finished at the time I took this pic, but it definitely illustrates the exploration journeys we are all on this year thanks to the partnership and generosity of Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. We definitely are being set up to make a big impact on the World.

the learning continues...

Shout out to my Expedition Partner, 2023 Grosvenor Fellow Jill McNabnay, for suggesting this book as we shopped together in the National Geographic store. It seemed fitting to learn more about the multi-generational Grosvenor Family name connected to our fellowship. Quick Fun Fact - Gilbert M. Grosvenor's great-grandfather is Alexander Graham Bell. YES, that one! This family's long-running legacy with the magazine and all things exploration is incredibly fascinating!

An excerpt about Gilbert M. Grosvenor's visit to the Arctic North Pole that gave me ALL THE FEELS.

"One more thing to do and - with a dwindling reserve in my air tanks - quickly. I pushed the weight belt as high on my chest as possible, so that my head would turn downward. Squeezing a small amount of air into my vest, I felt my body slowly rise. By inflating or deflating as needed, I obtained positive buoyancy, and my feet gently bumped up against the underside of the ice. Finally, my feet were flush. I slipped, readjusted, and - hanging upside down - took a single step. Then a second...a third...a fourth step. I had done it. I had walked underneath the North Pole."

(Gilbert M. Grosvenor and Mark Collins Jenkins, 17)

Two more excerpts from the book that I will ponder more deeply as I embark on my expedition were taken from Explorer Peter Jenkins story, "A Walk Across America", that appeared in National Geographic's April 1977 issue.

"I guess wherever you go, you find some kind of reflection of yourself."

"I wanted to share every environment with the people who were rooted in it" - A perfect summation of life geographical.

(Gilbert M. Grosvenor and Mark Collins Jenkins, 262-263)

EXPEDITION PREPARATIONS

Since returning from the Pre-Expedition Workshop in Washington D.C., I kept busy with shopping, organizing, re-organizing, and slowly piling up items to pack. It has indeed been a cyclical process. I was lucky enough to score some amazing clearance deals at the Columbia outlet store on warmer gear for the expedition since our cold weather season here in Missouri had just ended. Even though it is Iceland and Greenland's summer, the temperatures are still cooler and being at sea with the wind will add to that chill.

Receiving the swag bag in the mail from National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions was a bonus! I am totally a "hat girl", so that cap will be broken in quickly!

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