On Monday, October 29, National Geographic is hosting an Education Summit that will showcase the many ways National Geographic is enhancing teaching and learning in classrooms across the country.

The event will feature innovative strategies designed to ignite a spirit of exploration in students and empower them to create a healthier, more sustainable future.

With a special focus on Planet or Plastic?—National Geographic’s multiyear effort to curb the amount of plastic reaching our ocean—we’ll explore ways students are using teamwork, research, innovation, critical thinking, and storytelling to help create a planet in balance.

Speakers include:

• Tracy Wolstencroft, President and CEO, National Geographic Society
• Justine Ammendolia, Marine Biologist & National Geographic Explorer
• Vicki Phillips, Education Strategist & Former Director of Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Ángel Cabrera, President, George Mason University

Additionally, National Geographic Education Fellows and certified educators will take the stage to share stories of how they inspire and engage youth to create real-life solutions to real-life problems:

• Sharee Barton’s fourth-grade class has helped to tackle the plastics crisis with their “skip the bag, save the sea” campaign. Sharee’s students understand that local actions have global impact; even in landlocked Idaho, it’s critical to recycle and minimize the use of plastic to help protect the oceans.
• Leon Tynes’ students understand the power of storytelling and filmmaking to serve a purpose. In creating documentaries, students gain hands-on experience with a range of technology and are empowered to find their voice and connect with an audience.
• Peg Keiner knows that her students need to identify with a person in the field in order to see themselves as explorers. When Keiner returned from her Grosvenor Teacher Fellow expedition to Antarctica, her students wanted more pictures of her. With National Geographic’s Explorer Classroom program and other ways of highlighting individuals in the field, her students are cultivating their own identities as explorers.
• Jim Bentley, recently a National Geographic Education Fellow, encourages other teachers to “teach differently.” In his classroom, project-based learning engages all learners, giving them a voice and platform to solve problems facing their community by engaging stakeholders, policymakers, and the public.

Not able to attend the summit? You can watch our free livestream of the program on Monday, October 29 starting at 7pm. Just click here to join the summit virtually.

Are you going to be in the Washington, D.C., area next week? If you would like to attend “Empowering the Next Generation of Planetary Stewards” and engage with these leaders in person, click below!