Educator Expanding His World View

HARRISONBURG — In his world history class Kirk Moyers teaches students about landmarks like the Great Wall of China and Tiananmen Square, but up until this year seeing the sights in person was only a dream.

 

But thanks to a scholarship through the Virginia School-University Partnership and Education First, Moyers will visit the Asian nation this summer for an experiential learning trip with 50 other educators from around the nation.

 

“I teach world history and I really haven’t been to a lot of the places or really hardly any of the places that we talk about, so I thought it would be kind of cool [to go],” said Moyers, who has taught at Harrisonburg High School for 15 years. The scholarship will cover Moyers’ airfare, lodging, food and admission to various historical sites.

 

The VSUP is a partnership between the University of Virginia Curry School of Education and 38 partnering school divisions throughout Virginia. Each year the VSUP partners with EF, a company that specializes in international education by offering language training, degree programs and educational trips, to give one educator from the 38 school divisions a scholarship to travel abroad.

 

The groups offer trips to two different nations annually. Moyers had the opportunity to apply to visit Peru or China.

 

“I went with China because it’s kind of so far out of my comfort zone — it’s not an English speaking nation, it’s in a completely different part of the world [and it has a] completely different culture,” said Moyers, also the division’s social studies coordinator. “And it’s not something that I would probably do on my own.”

 

The point of the trips, according to Jenni Williams, EF’s global education coordinator in Virginia, is to give teachers hands-on experience to bring back into the classroom, which in turn will help students “develop into future global citizens and leaders.”

 

While in China, Moyers will travel to Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai, and see historic landmarks like the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors and the Jade Buddha Temple.

 

Moyers was named as a scholarship recipient at the beginning of January and will be recognized by the VSUP Board of Directors on Tuesday at the University of Virginia.

 

“I’m honored that they selected me and I’m very excited about going,” Moyers said. “I think it will be interesting and educational and hopefully a little bit enlightening about the different cultures as well.”

 

Contact Emily Sharrer at 574-6286 or esharrer@dnronline.com