Second-grade teacher Jennie Warmouth of Spruce Elementary School in Lynnwood is going on the trip of a lifetime.

Warmouth was selected as a 2019 National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow.

She will be heading to the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, north of the Arctic Circle, in June.

“I will be alongside a team of eight biologists, underwater specialists, naturalists, National Geographic photographers and videographers – and another teacher – to learn and teach my students about the polar region.”

Spruce Elementary is a highly diverse, Title-1 school in the Edmonds School District, meaning it receives federal funds due to a large concentration of low-income students.

“I am going to focus most of my work on the issues facing polar bears,” said Warmouth, who grew up in Edmonds and graduated from Meadowdale High School.

“I will be teaching my students live from the field, as much as the internet will support. I have a PhD in educational psychology and also sit on the board of directors at the Progressive Animal Welfare Society, so I have some exciting ideas about how to connect the issues facing the polar bears with those facing our own black bear population in the Pacific Northwest.”

Warmouth's trip is supported by the Foundation for Edmonds School District through a Creative Classroom grant. With that support, she will be able to pay for website hosting and for classroom supplies.

Warmouth, in recognition of her commitment to geographic education, will be joing 44 other educators from the U.S. and Canada.

They will embark on global expeditions on board the Lindblad Expedition ships National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endeavour II, National Geographic Orion and National Geographic Quest to enhance their geographic knowledge with hands-on, field-based experiences that they will bring back to their pre-K–12 classrooms, communities and professional networks.

The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship is named in honor of Gilbert M. Grosvenor, chairman emeritus of the National Geographic Society, in recognition of his decades-long work supporting pre-K–12 teachers and promoting geography education across the United States and Canada.

The expeditions were donated in perpetuity to the Society by Sven-Olof Lindblad and Lindblad Expeditions in 2006 to mark Grosvenor’s 75th birthday and honor his service to the enhancement and advancement of geographic education.

The 2019 class of teachers formal and informal educators representing an array of subject areas including social studies, STEM, second-language programs and art..

The fellowship is open to pre-K–12 educators. Eligible applicants first had to complete National Geographic educator certification, a no-cost professional development program for educators committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists, explorers, educators and storytellers.

Certified educators are also given access to exclusive National Geographic student programs, classroom resources and other professional development opportunities.

In addition to the Svalbard, 10- to 23-day expeditions will include locations across the globe, including Southeast Alaska, the British and Irish isles, the Canadian Maritimes, Central America, Antarctica, the Galápagos Islands and the South Pacific.

Educators will experience landscapes, cultures and wildlife unique to their regions of exploration. They will be accompanied by Lindblad-National Geographic expedition experts, who range from undersea specialists to National Geographic photographers.

To prepare for their voyages, educators are participating in a multiday, hands-on, pre-expedition workshop at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., where they are learning a range of skills from photography and video editing to outreach planning and public speaking.

Lindblad Expeditions’ staff and naturalists as well as past fellows also participate in the workshop, serving as mentors to the new class now and when the new Fellows return to their classrooms and communities after their expeditions.

Fellows agree to a two-year commitment when they are accepted to the program, serving as program ambassadors before, during and after their expeditions.