Professional Development and Cultural Exchange

Vincent Edwards Start Date: Feb 8, 2020 - End Date: Aug 7, 2020
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Yucatan, Mexico
  • Chichén-Itzá, Yucatan, Mexico
  • Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  • Izamal, Yucatan, Mexico

My Travel Story

by: Vincent Edwards Start Date: Feb 8, 2020 - End Date: Aug 7, 2020
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Professional Development
  • Cultural Exchange
I teach Earth and Space Science at Jerome High School in Jerome, Idaho.  As an Earth and Space Science instructor, I spend the fall semester teaching students about the solar system, sun, moon, and stars. Almost all the information in our textbooks is taught from a very Euro-centric perspective. Any information I teach about the ancient worlds early discoveries in Astronomy, those coming from Egypt, MesoAmerica, Asia, or the Middle East, is completely dependent on the research I do outside of the general curriculum.

In Jerome, we have a large population of students from Latin American, predominantly Mexico. Often, finding new ways to bridge the cultural barriers is the key to teaching my subject in a meaningful way and exciting all my students to take an interest in the materials.  This lead me to start thinking about my students cultural background.  In particular, the fact that the Mayan culture, primarily located in the Yucatan Peninsula, is known for their advanced use of astronomy to record and interpret every aspect of the skies to determine the will and the actions of the gods - and the fact that they dedicated a great deal of time to recording the movement of the stars, moon, planets, and sun - lead me to decide that I should find a way to incorporate the Mayan discoveries and technologies into my lessons.

I decided to make a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula where the Mayan culture was heaviest, to gather materials from the area to supplement my curriculum and hopefully interest students from Latin America. In talking with our English Learner Specialist about my idea, he thought it was a great way to encourage students to take more of an interest, since it would bring materials to my lessons from their own culture.  I decided to take a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in order to gather materials and resources to supplement my classroom teaching in order to help my students connect to the materials a little better.

Any funds I am able to raise will be used to fund this trip for personal learning to further my students eduction.  In the future, I hope to be able to arrange summer trips for students to make the trip as well.  This will be a ground laying trip of discovery.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
  • Yucatan, Mexico
  • Chichén-Itzá, Yucatan, Mexico
  • Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  • Izamal, Yucatan, Mexico