Kelley Holmes, a teacher at Longfellow Elementary School in Portland, has been selected as one of this year’s Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Education Grosvenor Teacher Fellows.
The 25 fellows from the United States and Canada will embark on Lindblad voyages aboard National Geographic Explorer for a hands-on experience.
Holmes teaches first and second grade. She is participating in an ongoing collaboration with Project Zero of the Harvard Graduate School of Education to design lessons and units that develop students’ global competence.
Each year, K-12 educators are encouraged to apply for the fellowship program. Those chosen enhance their geographic learning through direct, hands-on field experience and bring that knowledge back to their classrooms and communities.
The fellows will travel later this year on eight- to 14-day expeditions to locations including Arctic Svalbard, Iceland, Greenland, the Canadian Maritimes and Antarctica. They will experience firsthand local landscapes, wildlife and cultures by hiking, kayaking, Zodiac excursions and cultural outings.
Led by Lindblad-National Geographic expedition team members, a National Geographic photographer and an undersea specialist, the fellows will gain knowledge to develop activities and lesson plans for their classrooms and to share with professional colleagues and communities upon returning home.
Before their expeditions, the fellows will travel to Washington, D.C., for a pre-voyage workshop with hands-on sessions on outreach planning and photography as well as opportunities to learn about the ship, meet Lindblad Expeditions’ naturalists and network with previous years’ fellows.