Clark HS Geography Team Leader Honored by World Affairs Council
October 17, 2008
 Nicole Vickerman, Clark High School World Geography Team Leader, has been honored as runner up for the “International Educator” award by the Dallas/Ft. Worth World Affairs Council. She was recognized at the Council’s awards luncheon held in September, which featured Author Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner.
“As a product of Plano schools, I am one of many teachers who returned to teach where we learned. The one thing that all my favorite teachers had in common was their enthusiasm. They were fascinated by their subject and found joy in sharing it with their students,” said Ms. Vickerman, 2008 Clark High School Teacher of the Year and Plano ISD Excellence in Teaching Award winner.
 Ms. Vickerman started the Clark Junior World Affairs Council, whose 2007-08 student members met the ambassador of South Africa and attended a Save Darfur event sponsored by the World Affairs Council that featured an HBO documentary and several distinguished speakers. Her group organized a Red Hand Day event at Clark in cooperation with the UN to bring awareness to the issue of child soldiers.
Clark High School Junior World Affairs Council members educate others about international issues. Pictured above are members of the school's 2007-08 World Quest competition team.
This year, she took students to hear Thomas Friedman speak about his book “Hot, Flat and Crowded” and Sashi Tharoor speak on his book “The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cell Phone.” In addition, her students are planning to compete in the World Affairs Council’s International Essay Contest and World Quest.
Her own involvement with the D/FW World Affairs Council includes presenting curriculum as part of its World in Transition program as well as a “fantastic, amazing, wonderful trip to Turkey this summer,” she said. In prior summers, she has studied abroad in Japan and Germany.
Ms. Vickerman has worked since 2002 to rewrite Plano ISD’s World Geography curriculum with a focus on TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) objectives and long term comprehension. Since 2004, she has served on the Pre-AP/IH (Advanced Placement/International Honors) World Geography Curriculum Committee, which created the first unified Pre-AP curriculum for Plano ISD.
“Teaching is not a job; it is a personality trait, and I hope I am to my students what my best teachers were to me,” said Ms. Vickerman.
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