Ocean City Teacher Selected for Expedition to Iceland

Ocean City, NJ – Ocean City Intermediate School teacher Cholehna Weaver, has been selected as one of the 2016 Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows in recognition of her commitment to geographic education, the school district said.

In July, Weaver and other K-12 teachers will embark on an 11-day Lindblad voyage aboard National Geographic Explorer to Iceland for a one-of-a-kind field experience, accompanied by expedition experts.

Other select educators will go on trips to the Galapagos, Antarctica, British and Irish Isles, and more.

While on their trips, the Fellows must share the importance of geographic literacy and develop activities to bring back to their classrooms.

For Weaver, it will be her second trip abroad as an educator in two years.

Last summer, Weaver was one of 16 educators who spent four weeks in China after she

was chosen by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, and the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.

Weaver spent her time in China at meetings, discussions and site visits to governmental agencies, media outlets and historic and cultural sites designed to complement lectures and provide an immersive learning experience.

She used her global perspective to bring ideas into her Social Studies and Language Arts classes, which was part of the criteria for selection.

“It was amazing and eye-opening. I didn’t know a lot about China before going, so I was interested in learning more about it,” Weaver said after returning from China. “I’m extremely grateful for the support of the Ocean City School District administration.”

“Cholehna Weaver is an outstanding teacher and has fully committed herself to giving her students the broadest possible world perspective,” Kathleen Taylor, Ed.D., Superintendent of Ocean City School District, said. “We at Ocean City could not be prouder of Cholehna and wish her the best of luck on her upcoming trip.”

In preparation for her trip, Weaver will travel to National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in hands-on workshops covering photography and outreach, meet Lindblad Expeditions’ naturalists and network with this year’s and previous years’ Fellows.

This year marks the 10th year of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program, established to honor former National Geographic Society Chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor’s lifetime commitment to geographic education.

The program began with two Fellows in 2007 and has grown each year. The expeditions were donated in perpetuity to the National Geographic Society by Sven-Olof Lindblad and Lindblad Expeditions to mark Grosvenor’s 75th birthday in 2006, and to honor his service in enhancing and improving geographic education across the United States.

Weaver has taught at the Ocean City Intermediate School since 2013

For more on this year’ Fellows, visit www.natgeoed.org/gtf.

The attached image was provided by the Ocean City School District: Cholehna Weaver, Ocean City Intermediate School teacher, spent four weeks in the summer of 2015, in China on a J. William Fulbright scholarship.