In early March, over 150 educators from across Washington state attended the annual Chelan Conference, a three-day forum sponsored by the Washington State Council for the Social Studies and co-sponsored by the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Through its outreach centers, the Henry M. Jackson School has supported the Chelan Conference for many years to share current perspectives and applicable teaching resources to K-12 educators. This includes providing expert speakers, often Jackson School alumnae and graduate students, who offer a wide range of sessions on global topics.
For example, Jackson School alumna Tese Wintz Neighbor, a specialist on China, shared insights on the youth movement in contemporary China, in part based on her recent experience visiting during ‘Occupy’ protests in Hong Kong. Christi Ann Hofland (pictured above), a Jackson School graduate student, delivered a session “The Country for a Chocolate King: Ukraine and Its Struggle for Democracy” to a packed room.
Other topics varied from the upcoming election in Myanmar to applications of the new ‘College, Career, and Civic (C-3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards’ in teaching about the Middle East.
John Hines, President of the Washington State Council on Social Studies, thanked the Jackson School for its partnership and continued commitment in offering timely and insightful sessions to the wider educational community.
Ten of the Jackson School’s regional and global studies centers donated resources in 2015 for the Chelan Conference. For over 20 years, the conference has been a major resource for the professional development of teachers in the Pacific Northwest.
