Heidi Givens, an educator in Fayette County and the 2013 Kentucky Elementary School Teacher of the Year, spent time with National Geographic as part of the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship in July. Submitted photo
A trip to Iceland filled with memories, teaching opportunities and a chance to share the importance of accessibility to others from across the country is beyond words for Heidi Givens.
“There is not a word to describe how the trip went,” said Givens. “I’m blown away just to have been selected for something like this.”
The 28-year veteran educator and current hearing-impaired specialist at Sandersville Elementary School (Fayette County) was selected for the 16th annual Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship cohort.
Givens, who earned the 2013 Kentucky Elementary School Teacher of the Year award, participated along with 35 other educators from across the county in an expedition around the world with National Geographic for professional learning and educational experience in July.
“It was just really neat because there were a lot of teachers from all different areas and experiences, even retired teachers and college professors,” she said.
The fellowship is open to educators from pre-K to 12th grade. Educators apply and are selected through a competitive application process. Fellows take on a two-year commitment to support National Geographic’s education initiatives.
In addition to the trip on the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic fleet, these educators also are asked to participate in and conduct webinars, co-design resources, take part in meetups and serve as mentors to other educators.
She said that during her time on the fleet, she had to complete certain tasks such as writing a 200-word summary each day of their learnings, what they saw and did, along with five pictures.
“When we were there, we had responsibilities,” she said. “We also created a presentation one night about us as educators, sharing our teaching experience and what the fellowship was about to us.”
Traveling around and networking with other educators was a positive experience and Givens said she plans to use her knowledge of this trip to teach her students.
“I plan to create a website story map that I will upload pictures and record video journals in sign language for my students,” she said.
While she was creating videos and documenting her trip, Givens said it was seeing the unique areas around her trip that inspired her to use that newfound knowledge in her lessons.
“Since I’ve had more education and learning about the area, I want to use that as an opportunity to share things like the geothermal area and the electricity and how there were volcanoes and how it all works,” Givens said.
She looks forward to not only sharing about the areas they explored but also what she learned from other educators and their lifelong connections.
“Each evening, they invited groups of passengers to enjoy a hosted dinner, and they rotated so everyone had the chance to participate,” Givens said. “If there was an open seat at a table, you just asked to sit down and over that time, we’ve become family with some people.”
Givens said it was also important for her to work alongside the fellowship to ensure accessibility throughout the entire process from the application through the expedition.
“I made it a mission of mine to look at the fellowship through an equity and accessibility lens through the entire journey,” Givens said. “I am not deaf, and I am not disabled, but I want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities.”
Givens said that she hopes she has made an impact on those who are a part of her fellowship cohort and encourages people to make sure accessibility is not a barrier for others to take part in these unique opportunities.
“Maybe there is a reason why there hasn’t been somebody here representing that community, and I want to help the foundation and others maybe recognize if there are barriers and I hope it will have a positive outcome.”
With countless stories on her adventure, Givens said she is thankful for the opportunity this fellowship has provided and looks forward to encouraging her students to explore and learn.
“I feel like I’m representing the deaf education community and I’m excited to be able to do that and be a part of this fellowship, and just being able to share this experience with my students.”
Submissions for the 2025 Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship cohort are scheduled to open on Sept. 24.
