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Bob McMichael Awarded NWPE Grant
posted by: Cindy Omlin | December 05, 2017, 08:15 PM   

Congratulations to Mr. Robert McMichael, NWPE member and high school teacher in Cambridge, Idaho, who has been awarded a $500 classroom grant to help cover the costs of printing the third book researched and written by students.  McMichael’s students’ first book was a general look at the history and culture of their unique valley in rural Idaho. The second was an oral history of "old-timers" from their area. The book that students are now working on will be a detailed explanation of agriculture in the Salubria Valley. In it, his 9th & 10th grade students will explain the “how and why of agriculture in the valley so that outsiders can better understand what makes small rural communities like theirs tick.”

bob mcmichael 2017Mr. McMichael explains the project: “Students will plan the chapter layout of the book by working with me and our FFA faculty; form teams to conduct both historical and current-day research on farming and ranching methods, practices, and equipment; obtain both historical and current-day photographs, diagrams, and other data to augment the text of the book; write and edit the chapters of the book; edit the photographs and other images, and insert into the book layout software; copy-edit the final text and plan for publication; and plan and implement a book-launch event for the community in May of 2018.”

Mr. McMichael’s students will maximize their learning potential by following the project full-circle.  Students will plan the content and contexts of the research; conduct, transcribe, and edit interviews with local farmers and ranchers; and learn what it takes to get a book published.

The project will capture and share community pride as students document and preserve “the major life blood and industry of the Salubria Valley” which will help “educate more urban people about what goes on in rural areas like Cambridge.”

“For these twelve students to want to document the farming and ranching life of this area says something special,” McMichael comments.  “Their work will have a lasting effect on the community and our school because without it this chunk of rich, ordinary life will vanish as the forces of modernization, globalization, and automation gradually erode this unique environment of small family farms relying only on family members to keep the ranch alive (no migrant labor has ever been used here).”

A member since 2013, Mr. McMichael joined NWPE for its career protection benefits and attractive dues.  He was awarded an NWPE New Classroom Start Up Grant in 2014. This award marks his second grant from NWPE.

Mr. McMichael appreciates having a choice of professional organizations for both personal and professional reasons.  “[…] having a choice in professional organizations, that’s critical. Each teacher is (or should be) his or her own unique person. Not all professional organizations are alike, and so to have a choice of which organization to join or participate in is critical to promote sincere professional development among teachers. If teachers are the pedagogical fulcrum, then the stuff they get out of the professional organizations they resonate with will certainly benefit their charges in the classroom which, by extension, promotes public education as a free market of ideas.”

We congratulate Mr. McMichael on his classroom grant award and wish him continued success developing students who make active contributions to the culture and quality of their unique community.

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