Members of the Geary County Schools Board of Education along with students and staff from the district dedicated several Flint Hills Maps and Exhibits that are currently mounted in several area schools on February 20th at the Board of Education Celebrations meeting.

“this map helps our students realize they live in a very special place — the largest expanse of tallgrass prairie left in the world,” said Executive Director of Communications, Mat Droge.

The in-school map exhibits and accompanying on-line Flint Hills-based education program were given to Geary County Schools at no cost — funded by private donations to the map program through the Flint Hills Discovery Center Foundation.

Created by a grass roots team of Flint Hills teachers, scientists, ranchers and experts. the program’s goal is to “deepen students” knowledge, pride and commitment to their place in the world — the Kansas Flint Hills — the last four percent of tallgrass prairie in North America,” stated Project Director Emily Hunter Connell. Over 180 schools across the Flint Hills have joined in the program.

In addition to the exhibits, the program offers over 250 place-based learning activities on the Flint Hills Discovery Center website.

Program Coordinator and former teacher Annie Wilson said, “The idea is to give teachers exciting, relevant ways to present basic skills they are already teaching – by providing easy access to hundreds of customized, Flint Hills-based activities not available in standardized texts.”