BETTENDORF, IOWA (March 24, 2020) — Rivermont Collegiate Preschool Teacher, Cassaundra Dunbridge has been awarded the National Geographic Educator Certification. The certification is not easy to achieve; less than 5000 people worldwide per seasonal cohort are accepted into the program. She applied for the summer cohort this past
December but was surprised to be invited to the winter cohort.
Dunbridge’s passion lies in Early Child Education. She guides her two and three-year-old students using the Reggio Emilia style, which provides student-centered, self-directed, experiential learning in a relationship-driven environment. She had the opportunity to attend the international Reggio Emilia conference in Italy this past November.
On the heels of her international travel, Dunbridge completed the work necessary to receive this special National Geographic recognition. Her work included writing two papers, completing a National Geographic lesson plan with rationales to support her learning model, and producing a video capstone assignment. She received her certification with an exemplary score in every aspect of the evaluating rubric. “Early childhood education (ECE) is a new area for National Geographic and is underrepresented,” says Dunbridge. “I had to challenge the misconceptions of this age group and work hard to show that children are competent learners who know things.”
“I know the entire Rivermont Collegiate community joins me in celebrating the local, national, and global accolades that Mrs Dunbridge has earned. Her passion for early-childhood education is a rare gift, and the enthusiasm she carries into her daily interactions with youngsters is inspiring,” says Max Roach, Headmaster. “Our Preschool and Junior Kindergarten programs have developed quite a cult following, and our classes routinely have waitlists. Those who enter in our early education years are ideally suited for the transition into our world-class and equally recognized K-12th grade programs. Kudos, Mrs Dunbridge, for fostering Rivermont’s spirit of exploration, global thinking, and social consciousness in those critical early years!”
The certification gives Dunbridge access to exclusive educator resources for the classroom. It also gives her a voice in the global ECE community. Dunbridge says she is looking forward to continuing her work in ECE development with her students and mentoring other educators from around the world to apply these explorative frameworks into their teaching models.
Mrs Dunbridge currently mentors practicum students in her classroom for Saint Ambrose University and Upper Iowa University while she works towards earning her master’s degree in ES-12th grade curriculum instruction.
