FLORENCE– University of North Alabama professors Dr. Lisa Keys-Mathews and Dr. Bill Strong were busy the last several months preparing to host ten states at the Geo-Literacy Leadership Institute at the University of North Alabama campus. Keys-Mathews and Strong are co-coordinators of the Alabama Geographic Alliance which is part of the network of alliances for the National Geographic Society.
The leadership institute consisted of professionals in the fields of education, 
geography, and geospatial technologies from the following states: Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Alabama participants included Matthew Bonds from Westlawn Middle School in Huntsville, Tama Nunnelley from Guntersville Middle School in Guntersville, Amanda Oakley from UNA, Lindsey Sizemore from East Lawrence High in Trinity, and Megan Smith from Forest Hills Elementary in Florence.
Participants learned about communication, advocacy and leadership in order to promote geographic literacy in their states and nationally. Various presenters shared vital tips with attendees about how to give “elevator” speeches, write opinion/editorials, design public relations strategies and develop talking points to advocate for geography education policy.
Louisiana participant Susan Keith said the Geographic Alliance really opened her eyes to how broad geography is. “Geography includes people, places, and how they relate to each other. You use geography in space programs, meteorology, routing school buses, railroads, trucking, urban planning, airlines, defense, and so much more. A world where people don’t know geography is too dangerous to live in,” said Keith.
Texas participant Joe Ostrowski said the question he gets most frequently is, “Why do I care so passionately about geography? The question should actually be; why don’t we care enough about geography’?”
For more information: Dr. Lisa Keys-Mathews at 256-765-4640 – lkeysmathews@una.edu; or Dr. Bill Strong at 256-765-4218 – wrstrong@una.edu.
MEDIA RELEASE/Megan A. Smith, Forest Hills Elementary, Florence City Schools & the Alabama Geographic Alliance
