“I learned about NCGE in 1987, joined, and discovered a bank of remarkable folks to learn from and share with. Buried treasure! A whole organization of people who saw the world with a geographic eye, and wanted to share it. The conference quickly became an annual highlight, where educators from grad school down into grade school all shared their expertise and valued each other’s, whether it was about urbanization, or how to classify data, or making dough maps, or using brightly colored yarn to show community connections. I learned more ways to integrate knowledge by doing, more teaching styles, more great ways to teach critical content, but also saw more people struggling with computers and hungering for maps that could adequately represent the complex fabric of the world.”

“I consider NCGE as my home base national professional organization.  I know that I would have had far fewer opportunities to join in such enjoyable joint learning adventures without my NCGE colleagues and friends supporting me.”

“Certainly my work at ETS on the APHG exam is an integral part of my job, but I can honestly say that my 15 years as a member of NCGE, and the annual conference with the teachers’ workshop gives me the impetus and recharges my enthusiasm for geography education each year. I meet life-long friends, dedicated teachers, long-time readers, new readers, and knowledgeable geographers.

As I look forward to receiving the Miller Award at the Centennial Conference in Washington, DC this coming August, I firmly believe that in order to bring geography to the attention of policy makers, geography educators need the support of a strong organization that influences public policy toward geography education and expands the visibility of geography within other professional organizations, the business community, government agencies, and the general public. NCGE fulfils this role, and I am proud to be a member of an organization that welcomes all geography educators without regard to our path to geography or our role in the educational process.”

“Each year I look forward to the National Conference on Geography Education, as it feels like coming home to family. NCGE and its membership continue to inspire and challenge me, both professionally and personally.  Even though I found my way to geography by that chance teaching assignment many years ago, I have never felt more at home working on geography education projects with colleagues and life-long friends that share the same passion I have for learning about the world and teaching others.”

“As a first year social studies teacher, in a foreign country, with no formal geographic education, I found myself assigned to teach Advanced Placement Human Geography and world geography, amongst other classes. The Journal of Geography and The Geography Teacher were instrumental to my own professional development. I have applied articles in my classroom to do things like creating student geography blogs and using Gapminder World to not only teach geographic concepts, but also basic statistical analysis. Additionally, NCGE’s webinars and weekly AP Bell-Ringers have been valuable resources.”

“Shortly after starting my teaching career, I became aware of NCGE and became a member. After attending my first NCGE conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1989, I was hooked; it was a wonderful experience! I had never attended a conference where there was no sense of segregation based upon academic background. University professors were mixing with elementary, junior high, and high school teachers, and the common love of geography education superseded people’s academic background. The field trips were outstanding, and the opportunity to share ideas and gain information from such a diverse group of geographers was fabulous.Over the years, I have continued to be a huge fan of NCGE, and one of the first things I do with the pre-service teachers that I work with is encourage them to become NCGE members.”

“I encourage all teachers, but especially elementary teachers, to join and participate in the National Council for Geographic Education. Your involvement will enrich, renew and reinvigorate you and your teaching. My attendance at the NCGE annual conferences has continued to provide me with personal learning opportunities that are easily transferrable to my 5th grade students back in my classroom. Since I am a very visual learner, each conference location has helped me complete the story for my students, by providing me a visual “stage” as Dallas Smith would say. From the Alamo (San Marcos), to the Mile High Capitol building for its Centennial Celebration (Denver), to the Shiloh Battlefield, the Corinth Crossroads, the Mississippi River, and the Civil Rights Museum, (Memphis), to this year’s fieldtrip to Tangier Island out in the middle of Chesapeake Bay, I have gained so much to include in my teaching tool kit. Hand in hand with the great geographic personal experiences, has been the warm collegiality I have felt. I have been tutored by fellow geographers, and teachers, while attending NCGE conference sessions, and while visiting with them at other conference activities.”

“My first encounter with the NCGE was visiting the website to order “The People’s Guide to Spatial Thinking” by Diana Stuart Sinton, Sarah Bednarz, Phil Gersmehl, Robert Kolvoord, and David Uttal. I poked around the site and realized that this was a professional society I needed to join!”

“I became a member of NCGE after the 1994 summer institute, but I didn’t attend a conference until 2004 in Kansas City. I was really impressed with the sessions and the friendliness of the attendees. The warmth of people like Kristi Alvarez, who spoke with me at my poster presentation, convinced me that this was an organization I could really enjoy. I began making NCGE my annual conference of choice. My friends at NCGE will continue to be an important part of my professional growth.”

“Through my work with the NCGE, I made connections with many award-winning geographic educators and past presidents of NCGE — Sarah Bednarz, Dick Boehm, Lara P. Bryant, Susan Hardwick, Susan Hume, Eric Fournier, Madeleine Gregg, fcJ, Joseph Kerski, Jodi Smothers-Marcello, Joe Stoltman, and so many others. All of my colleagues at NCGE contributed in some way to my growth as a geographer and geographic educator, whether it was how to design a quality research proposal, mentoring graduate students and junior faculty, or simply modeling good scholarship.”

“I have been an NCGE member since 2009. I have greatly benefited from the teaching resources found on the NCGE website. NCGE has contributed so much to the geographic education community, and I appreciate the resources that are found on their website. Their annual conference is an awesome opportunity for teachers, and brings together some of the best and most motivated teachers and professors from around the country (and world). The conference gives teachers a chance to network, learn from leading APHG teachers and Test Development Committee Members, as well as exchange lesson plans and ideas. Members are so generous and willing to share strategies and lesson ideas. NCGE membership and member collaboration are an invaluable resource for teacher success.”