EDUCATION WATCH : Geography Lesson

We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Here was the terrific news that Solana Beach kindergarten teacher Arlene Johnston had won the first national “Excellence in Geography Teaching” award for her simple, yet highly successful, idea to teach 5-year-olds the locations of the nation’s 50 states.

But it was the way Johnston’s kindergartners proved their prowess that was a bit deflating. They defeated a team of San Marcos High School students in a competition to locate states on a blank map of the United States and identify their best-known products and nicknames.

There it was in a nutshell: teen-age Americans’ appalling knowledge of geography juxtaposed against the success of Johnston’s simple program.

Hand-wringing about students’ lack of acumen in geography is widespread. But here is a teacher offering promise for future improvement.

The most encouraging aspect is that Johnston accomplished the task without a high-priced program or a battery of research. She just asked the children to send letters to friends and relatives in all 50 states and posted them on a map in the classroom until every state was represented.

That idea bested 500 others submitted from around the country, enriching Johnston by $10,000 and winning a collection of geography material for Solana Vista Elementary School.

And it proved, once again, that an imaginative teacher and a captivated class of students are still are the best combination for successful education on critical concepts.