Three Ridgeview teachers to tour Civil Wall battlefields

Three Ridgeview High School teachers have been selected to attend an 11-day Civil War Battlefield tour from June 23 through July 1 sponsored by the Center for Geography Education in Oregon.

Teachers Ben Parsons, Steve Reeves and Maegan MacKelvie have been selected among a small group of Oregon educators to attend.

The group will engage in an 11-day exploration of Civil War battlefields ranging from Virginia to Pennsylvania.

The focus will be on the physical and human geography of the Civil War. The group’s model lessons and other work products will be shared as a resource with teachers throughout the state.

The Center for Geography Education in Oregon, which is housed at Portland State University’s Geography Department, designs travel experiences with strong geography content and sound pedagogical and field experiences that inform and contribute to classroom practices.

The program is designed to improve geography instruction in Oregon’s K-12 classrooms. The competitive selection process was open to any Oregon classroom teacher. The program is funded by a generous grant from the Gray Family Foundation, honoring John Gray’s intent to provide travel experiences for K-12 teachers.

“I feel honored to have been chosen out of all the wonderful Oregon teacher applicants,” shared Maegen MacKelvie, Ridgeview High School English Language Arts teacher. “I am always thrilled to learn new ways to bring humanities into the English Language Arts classroom and bring back new materials, knowledge and maps to my students. I am looking forward to traveling with my colleagues and also meeting other Oregon teachers!”

For questions or more information, please contact Kelly Richard, communications coordinator, at 541-923-8233.