World Traveler Visits HMS

Our visitor was Bill Nichols.  He runs his own consulting company, providing marketing strategy services to financial organizations, most recently in several African countries where he also voluntereed his time & business expertise to assist non-profit organizations and NGOs.  He is an avid traveler and has visited nearly 100 countries.  In honor of Geography Awareness Week's theme this year around global interdependence, Bill prepared a fantastic presentation for the entire fifth grade entitled: "Your Rice Dinner Connects the World...in more ways than you can imagine."  Bill started with a picture of his dinner plate, filled with universal rice, spices, veggies and protein (fish in this case).  Then he traced his food to its origin, starting with the rice.  He showed the kids pictures of rice farming in several Asian and African countries he has visited as he explained the process of growing, harvesting and exporting rice. Then he used the spices, vegetables and fish from his meal to discuss the lives of the farmers who grow these crops and catch the fish, focusing on Africa.  He helped the students understand where their food comes from and how they are connected to people very different from themselves.  The students were engaged and asked thoughtful questions because there was so much to learn!