"My Wonderful World" National Geographic Campaign

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The National Geographic-led My Wonderful World campaign, backed by a coalition of national business and non-profit organizations, continues to promote Geographic Education among students, parents, and teachers around the country.  To date, more than 80,000 people have signed up to show their support of this important initiative.  The MWW goal is to reach the 100,000-supporter mark by Geography Awareness week in November 2009.  If you haven’t already signed up, visit www.MyWonderfulWorld.org to do so.  Please also encourage your colleagues, family members, friends, and the parents of your students to visit the site to see some simple ways to give kids the power of global knowledge.

The campaign is still working hard to support the proposed “Teaching Geography is Fundamental” (TGIF) legislation that was slated to be part of revisions to No Child Left Behind (NCLB).  Despite the fact that this process has slowed, support for the TGIF bill continues to grow.  The bill has been reintroduced in the 111th Congress as H.R. 1240 and S. 749.  There are currently seventy-one co-sponsors for the House version of the bill including Connecticut Representatives Christopher Murphy, Joe Courtney, and John Larson.  The Senate version of the bill currently has ten co-sponsors including Senator Chris Dodd.  Connecticut educators are encouraged to contact the offices of Senator Joe Lieberman and Representatives Rosa DeLauro and James Himes to ask for their support for the TGIF legislation.  It is the hope of the campaign that constituents across the country can educate lawmakers about the importance of Geography Education.

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