New Opportunities from the VGA

For the Vermont Geographic Alliance, the development of the AP Human Geography course coincides nicely with a new initiative in our organization to reach out to teachers in higher grades.  We are actively looking for ways to support new and existing geography courses and geography components in other courses at the high school level.  We will offer a workshop next fall geared toward the needs of high school geography teachers (whether or not what they are teaching has "geography" in the course title).

Steve Niederhauser, a recently-trained VGA Teacher Consultant from Thetford Academy, is spearheading our new effort.  He is contacting all Vermont high schools this spring to find out where high school geography teachers are, what they are doing, and where they would like to go.  He is inviting interested teachers to meet this summer or early fall to discuss the needs and interests of high school geography teachers, especially in human geography areas, and to plan a VGA workshop for the fall.  If you haven't received a letter at school from Steve and are interested in joining us, contact him at the address or phone listed below.

With the VGA's links to college and university faculty who teach human geography, we can respond to interest in the new AP course.  To us, the AP rubric offers opportunities for professional development beyond just the course and exam itself.  (Individual units within the AP course could be modified and incorporated into other courses, for example.)  Let us know of your interests in this area.