Morgan Brown, an Art teacher at Jenks Middle School, started the JMS Global program during the 2016-17 school year and just wrapped up her tenth Global trip with a recent trek to Thailand. JMS Global is a unique, interdisciplinary course that blends arts, humanities, history, science, and agriculture through the lens of a single country each school year. As students spend the year studying the nation’s culture, geography, and way of life, their learning culminates in an immersive overseas trip. This journey allows students to experience firsthand the places, traditions, and communities they’ve explored in class, transforming academic study into lived understanding. Brown teaches the Arts & Humanities portions of the curriculum, while Stephen Tillinghast, an Agricultural Education teacher, leads students through the science and agriculture aspects of the chosen country. Their efforts are closely supported by Dr. Nick Brown, JMS Site Principal, and the JMS Assistant Principals.
Mrs. Brown believes, "Traveling abroad, at any age, is integral to developing empathy and understanding for people unlike ourselves. It helps us broaden our own understanding of what it means to be human, and therefore treat others more kindly throughout our lives. It also helps build independence and confidence. Students are more likely to trust their decision making and creatively solve problems after they’ve had to learn to communicate without a shared language, or navigate unfamiliar streets, while practicing customs different from their own. These kids come back different people than when they left in all the best possible ways. "
This extensive study course has rewards for the educators as well. "By far the most rewarding part of my job is the moment I see students make the connection between what we learned about in class and what’s in front of them while on tour. The excitement in their eyes and voices when they realize that they know what they’re looking at, or they can answer a question from our tour guides makes all that hard work and preparation worthwhile. To see that life-altering change happening in them in real time is pretty special" said Brown.
