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Stoddard: Megan Camp, Global Vermonter

Megan Camp

Shelburne Farms is a beloved local institution, with connections and influence far beyond Vermont’s borders. For 25 years the Farm’s vice president and program director, Megan Camp has focused on helping teachers prepare students to be caring global citizens for a better world, at home and abroad.

My belief was that we really needed to reorient and redesign education toward a more sustainable future, and that was going to come not by just local education but by a global initiative as well.

 

When Camp began working in Central and Eastern Europe in the 90’s, she realized a common question was being asked on a global level.

 

"What is it that students really need to be able to know to live sustainably in the 21st century?”

 

Shared learning and dialogue through conferences, teacher exchanges and partnerships helped Camp, among others, incorporate sustainability into Vermont’s education curriculum, the first US state to do so. Meanwhile, a number of countries were making sustainability part of their national curriculum.

 

I think Vermont is playing that role as a bridge builder between some of the innovation that’s happening globally and internationally to what could be happening here nationally. We’re part of this international network that plays a leadership role...it’s exciting

 

A number of initiatives, including one where young students and teachers become actively involved in improving their communities, have caught on around the world.

 

So ‘Healthy Neighborhood, Healthy Kids’ was a program that started in Ukraine, got adapted in Burlington, has now been used in the Caribbean. Also our partners in China are using that approach our other partners in japan have adapted it.

 

Shelburne Farms focuses on education and exchanges for teachers, because educators are change agents with broad reach to the next generation. And as teachers share ideas around the globe, they realize their goals for their students are the same.

 

By partnering with colleges of education, we offered professional learning for educators to reorient their curriculum. How can actually have students engaged in active problem-solving and improving the quality of life in their communities.

 

...to create a better world. For VPR, this is Fran Stoddard.

Fran Stoddard was the co-host of Switchboard.
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