About

What is Passport Club?

Passport club is a volunteer run geography enrichment program offered at Sexton Mountain Elementary.  It is designed to encourage students to learn the names and locations of the world’s countries and the fifty states over the school year. This is an optional program for your student brought to you by the Sexton Mountain PTC and Passport Club Volunteers.

How Does Passport Club Work?

The program is based on a monthly geography quiz led by parent volunteers.  Every month, students are given a study map with 25 countries or geographic features of the world, and at the quiz they will be asked to identify the location of those countries or features on a world map.

The study maps are divided into five levels, and students may study as many levels as they choose.

  Level 1: 5 countries

  Level 2: 5 countries (10 total)

  Level 3: 5 countries (15 total)

  Level 4: 10 countries (25 total)

  Level 5: the 5 capitals of the Level 1 countries

  Bonus: 10 states & state capitals  (November – March)

If students successfully locate all five levels of countries each month, they will learn more than 200 countries by the end of the school year!

Your student and family can decide how much they wish to learn. Some kids ALWAYS want to master all five levels; others learn more or less depending on interest and/or other activities they have.  A good start is for students to learn at least to the level of their current grade number.

Kids who get a perfect score all year (Level 5 each month, and mastery of the United States) will get Geography Ninja t-shirts, will be called "The Ninjas", and will be invited to help with the club next year. Think of it as the Mountain Guides of Geography! Awards will be given at the end of year to all participants, along with their stamped passport where they have been tracking their progress! 

All grade levels K-5 are welcome to participate, usually students try to learn as many levels as they can, but any level of participation in any grade is welcomed and encouraged!

When are students quizzed?

Tests are once per month (usually the first Friday of the month) before school from 7:45 – 8:10 in one of the portable classrooms.

Testing Dates are scheduled for the mornings of:
  Friday September 20, 2024
  Friday October 4, 2024
  Friday November 1, 2024
  Friday December 6, 2024
  Friday January 10, 2025
  Friday February 7, 2025
  Friday March 7, 2025
  Friday April 4, 2025
  Friday May 2, 2025

Make up tests will be arranged as needed, and student progress will be sent monthly to the email address you sign up with.

How do we study for the monthly quiz?

Paper Study Map: Every student receives a study map for each month, and they can study on their own at home, or with help from their family.  When you are practicing with your student, you can name the country and ask them to point to it on the blank world map, just like they will do in the monthly quiz at school.

Even kids who can't read yet should be able to complete all the levels, since they just need to remember where to point them out on the map.

Online Map Quiz Game: For those learning all 25 countries each month (Levels 4 & 5), there is a fun map game for each month which you can access from the passportclubonline.com (under Free Resources > For your Classroom > Online Map Quizzes > Purpose Games).  Students challenge themselves to get a higher and faster score until they have learned all of the countries for that quiz.

Can Kindergartners who can't read participate?

Yes, since students just need to point to the location on the map when the parent volunteer asks them where a country or geographic location is located, they just need to be able to memorize the location like older students do. 

The only thing non-readers would have trouble with is using the online quiz games on their own, since it doesn't read the country names out loud. As long as a parent is able to study with them, they can learn all levels.

Can current A.M. shift Mountain Guides participate?

Yes.  Any current A.M. Mountain Guides will be tested first, so they can get to the school's front doors by 7:55 for their morning jobs.  It might be best to arrive at 7:40 so they have time to get to the portable to let the volunteer at the door know that they need to be at the front.

How do we sign up?

Sign Up Here for 2024-2025: https://forms.gle/VLy4Ra35MVdPub6E8

A sign up link can be found in the Passport Club email that will go out to all Sexton Mountain families.

You can view more info and a link to sign up on the Sexton Mountain Passport Club website:
https://bit.ly/smespassport