I would be honored to serve as President-Elect for the National Council for Geographic Education, an organization that has been so instrumental in my own teaching career. I have had the distinctive opportunity of teaching at both the secondary and post-secondary levels. This unique experience has developed in me a passion for teaching beyond my own traditional classroom in providing professional development for both pre-service and in-service teachers. One specific goal I have if elected is to help build and sustain a much needed avenue to better serve and involve pre-service teachers in the NCGE. Pre-service teachers across the United States largely do not receive adequate pedagogy in geography education. I will work to create regional opportunities that will better engage pre-service teachers in providing professional learning opportunities to improve their geography teaching practice.

I am currently a Lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a former high school geography teacher, I began my teaching career in 2001, spending seven years in the classroom teaching World Geography and AP Human Geography, as well as two years as an Assistant Principal. I earned my PhD in Geography from the University of South Carolina in 2014, and served as the Education Programs Manager for the South Carolina Geographic Alliance for four years prior to joining the faculty at UNCC in 2018. I currently teach world regional geography, human geography, spatial analysis, and hazards & disasters. I have also served as the Editorial Assistant for the Journal of Geography for six years and currently serve on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Geography as well as the Board of Directors for NCGE.

My name is Phillip Hare and I currently teach geography at Bennion Jr. High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’ve been fortunate to teach this great subject to 9th, 11th, and 12th graders, as well as college students. Over the past 13 years, I’ve taught courses including world regional geography, AP Human Geography, and IB Geography HL at the high school level, and introductory human geography course at the university level. Outside of the classroom, I’ve worked with district-level curriculum and assessment projects in both South Carolina and Utah, and state-level standards writing in South Carolina. The AP Human Geography reading has also provided me with opportunities to serve as both a reader and a leader. If elected to the board, I will focus on expanding professional development opportunities and geographic and GIS education across the K-12 spectrum. I believe my work with the South Carolina Department of Education as a standards writer, and with the South Carolina Geographic Alliance as a professional development facilitator, have provided me with key experience to work with different groups across the country. NCGE has provided me with incredible learning opportunities throughout my career, and I hope to provide that same opportunity for others.

Greg Hill has enjoyed a twenty-six year career in education. He teaches Geography at Dr. John D. Horn High School in Mesquite, Texas. In 2020, he was named International Educator of the Year by the World Affairs Council or Dallas-Ft. Worth. He is also the 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award: K-12 from the National Council for Geographic Education.

Greg sponsors the Junior World Affairs Council and Environmental Helpers programs at Horn High and coaches the school’s Current Events Team. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University attaining a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. He enjoys continuous learning by conducting book studies, attending seminars, and by traveling. He has visited countries in various parts of the globe to enhance his teaching.

Greg has received Fellowships from: The University of Colorado, the University of Texas, The Ohio State University, the Transatlantic Outreach Program, the Qatar Foundation International and the American Geographical Society to further his research in Global Education. Mr. Hill is a member of the Education Advisory Panel for the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth. He is also a member of the Mentor Steering Committee for the American Geographical Society. He was also named to the Advisory Committee for the Qatar Foundation International. His research interests include Geography, Urbanization, Latin dance and Folk Cultures in a Globalized World to name a few.

Greg seeks a position on the board to help NCGE forge ahead with its mission of promoting global literacy by helping to support and improve geographic instruction. Greg would also like to seek ways to enhance the visibility of geography across disciplines and in the greater society.

I currently serve as an Instructor for the Department of Geography at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). This year, I am grateful to be a recipient of NCGE’s Higher Education Distinguished Teaching Award. I also took over as Book Review Editor for the Journal of Geography. In research, teaching, and service, I garner inspiration from Kit Salter, who eloquently stated in 1995, “The more you know about your immediate world, the better you feel about your ability to engage it—to argue it—to modify it—to defend it—and even to leave it.”

Three reasons drive my motivation to serve on NCGE’s Board of Directors. First, I want to take an active role in discussions to innovate how NCGE can advocate for and advance geography education at the state and local levels. Second, I wish to broaden the diversity of NCGE’s membership. Specifically, I desire to increase membership and retention among students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Third, I want to identify pathways to enhance geography education’s impact as a realm of research. Past-AAG President Derek Alderman challenged geographers to keep it REAL (Responsive, Engaged, Advocating, and Life-Improving). In an increasingly hot and crowded world, NCGE has an essential role to “keep it REAL” by advancing research that optimizes the public’s ability to make better environmental and societal decisions.

Lonnie Moore has forty-one of teaching experience from elementary classrooms to high school to college. For the past 19 years, he has taught AP Human Geography, AP World History, AP U.S. History, and World Regional Geography in high schools in Omaha, Nebraska. He has developed the curriculum for world regional geography courses and developed reading programs for school districts. He has been a reader for the AP Human Geography exam for the past 13 years. Lonnie is a graduate of the 1990 National Geographic Summer Institute held in Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of the 1991 Nebraska State Council for the Social Studies Teacher of the Year and was named the 2014 Paul Beck Outstanding Social Studies Educator by the same association. In 1993, he was the recipient of the National Council for Geographic Education’s Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award. In 2008, Lonnie was named the first recipient of the Gildersleeve, Stoddard, and Stone Award by the Geographic Educators of Nebraska for Service to Geographic Education. He has directed eleven summer institutes for Geographic Educators of Nebraska. Lonnie served as a lead writer for Nebraska’s State Standards for History and Geography and was a member of the teacher collaborative council for the C3 Frameworks. He was selected to write a paper and present at the 4th International Conference on Geographic Naming and Geographic Education in Seoul. Lonnie holds a BS in Social Studies Education from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and an MA in Geography from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

I am very pleased and honored to have been nominated to the NCGE Board. NCGE has played a very significant role in my professional development as a teacher in general and as an AP Human Geography teacher specifically. If I am elected, I will work to continue NCGE’s commitment to improving and expanding geographic education. The organization has been strong in its commitment to secondary and collegiate level instructors and that should remain a powerful aspect. I believe that we can, also, enhance geography education by reaching out even stronger to teachers in the elementary grades. Particularly by developing geographic materials to be used in reading and math. Furthermore, I hope to help NCGE gain a stronger financial foothold by obtaining grants and forging partnerships. Thank you for your consideration and for valuing geographic education.

Steven R. White is a National Geographic Certified Educator, an Honors World Geography and AP Human Geography (APHG) instructor at Pearl High School in Pearl, MS. He has been an active member of the Steering Committee of MGA for over 12 years and has 25 years classroom experience on the 7-12 level.

Additionally, Mr. White enjoys serving as a judge and scorekeeper for the state geography bee and is a presenter for geography state standards and preservice teacher conferences conducted by MGA. White presents at Mississippi Council for the Social Studies conferences and nationally for NCSS and NCGE. He has received APHG training from the AP College Board and has participated with Nat Geo and NCSS Leadership institutes.

Mr. White received a travel award from MGA to participate in the 2017 NCGE-Geocamp Iceland field course and has also studied abroad in Japan with the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA).

Mr. White received a 2013 K-12 Distinguished Teaching Award for geography education from NCGE and in 2017, MGA presented him the Jess McKee Award for his longtime advocacy for geography education. As two-time president of the Mississippi Council for the Social Studies, he has been honored twice as Mississippi Social Studies Educator of the Year. The Mississippi Council on Economic Education recognized him with a ‘best practices’ award for an integrated lesson on population and human systems. He became the Pearl High School Teacher of the Year in 2019 and was previously inducted into the Mississippi Social Studies Educators’ Hall of Fame.

When asked about his philosophy of geography education, he explains, “I want to bring the world of geography to my students and fellow educators with engaging and interactive lessons so that they can become inspiring, productive citizens.” As NCGE members, we can help all cohorts build that bridge to geo-literacy for all students.