American skipper and sitesALIVE! founder Rich Wilson will set sail in the Vendée Globe 2016: a solo, non-stop, around-the-world sailing race, departing from Les Sables d’Olonne, France. Known as the “Everest of the seas”, only 71 people have completed the race, compared to the 500+ that have successfully reached the summit of Mt. Everest. Rich’s motivation in participating in such an extraordinary challenge is to excite and engage students in learning by connecting them to live, global, real-world adventures.
Since the early 1990s, sitesALIVE! has produced programs for Kindergarten through 12th grade, linking adventures, expeditions, and global field research stations with classrooms. As part of Rich’s passion for learning and education, he has designed and administered live, interactive, full semester, curricular-based education programs for over 25 years. To hear it in Rich’s words:
“As a math teacher in the Boston Public Schools in the ’70s, I saw that real world problem sets were far more interesting to my students than the textbooks. With sitesALIVE!, when the kids are linked to an adventure, with uncertain outcome, and real world drama, they pay attention, and then the science, geography and math flow freely.”
Through this partnership, FasTracKids centers and schools can offer a unique live interactive educational experience. Students will be able to communicate with Skipper Rich and his team of experts via e-mail and videos, answering questions and providing interesting facts during his journey. FasTracKids will integrate curriculum topics such as goal setting, geography, oceanography and other subject matter in the classroom as Rich travels around the world.
FasTracKids CEO Nancy Faunce says that her program leaders around the world are excited about the partnership:
“FasTracKids prides itself on offering children interactive education experiences. With sitesALIVE, our children will be able to go on a live sailing adventure with Skipper Rich. Together we can integrate topics such as oceanography and natural science with this real-world experience.”
About sitesALIVE! – SitesALIVE!’s mission is to excite and engage students in learning, for science, geography, math, and history, by connecting them to live, real-world adventures, expeditions, and field research stations globally, and to the people at those sites, on land or sea, using print and online distribution of curricular-based classroom activities which are informed by scheduled deliverables from, and interaction with, the adventures, expeditions and field research stations. For more information, visit www.sitesalive.com.
About FasTracKids International – Founded in 1998, FasTracKids is a proven innovator in early childhood education worldwide. Using programs designed for children 6 months to 8 years old, FasTracKids provides an international educational advantage by encouraging children to discover a love of learning in a fun and interactive setting. FasTracKids utilizes revolutionary technology to reinforce a child’s communication, creativity, confidence, critical thinking and collaboration skills that will carry over into the home and school settings. FasTracKids International headquarters is located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA. For more information, visit www.fastrackids.com.