Trip sparks communiversity inspiration

SANDPOINT — Local communiversity officials received a welcome dose of inspiration after attending an award ceremony and speaking with education bigwigs in Gainesville, Ga.

Jim Zuberbuhler and Connie Kimble, board members of the Bonner County Communiversity, traveled east this week to represent the growing education initiative at their sister institution, Featherbone Communiversity. During their stay, they said they absorbed the vision and drive of top Georgia educators gathered at the event.

“We met with many dynamic people that have dropped concerns about territory and funding and built this amazing educational community,” Kimble said.

According to Zuberbuhler and Kimble, the trip helped focus their ideas on a vision for the BCC. A network of educational professionals and community members, a communiversity provides a forum that unites centers of learning. With that goal in mind, BCC board members have been building relationships with regional education centers like the Lake Pend Oreille School District, Sandpoint Charter School and North Idaho College.

“It’s incredibly satisfying to be in a place where people leave their personal and professional egos at the door and rub institutional elbows,” Zuberbuhler said.

Festivities began Monday, when  Zuberbuhler and Kimble met with university presidents and education officials linked into the communiversity network. 

“One thing that the trip reinforced is the benefit of inviting people with disparate interests and ideas into the room,” Zuberbuhler said.

Later that evening, the group gathered for a dinner at Featherbone Communiversity founder Gus Whalen’s home. Whalen has been working closely with the BCC board’s efforts, visiting Sandpoint twice and even paying $1,000 for Zuberbuhler and Kimble’s travel expenses.   

 The BCC board members also took a tour of the Featherbone facility. They were particularly impressed with the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids, a children’s museum where kids can play while learning about the workings of society. Kimble said that the museum not only helped educate children — it also provides Gainesville with a serious economic bump that would mesh well with Bonner County’s tourism industry.

“In these tough economic times, INK had 60,000 visitors to the museum,” she said.

The two were also inspired by Featherbone’s cooperative departments. The education center boasted a variety of departments including a manufacturing facility and a thriving nursing school. What’s more, the departments coordinated to enhance each other. For example, the manufacturing center provided the nursing school with medical technology on which the students trained.

“There were a lot of really interesting synergies,” Zuberbuhler said. “We’d like to make the same thing happen here.”

On Tuesday morning, Zuberbuhler and Kimble attended an award ceremony honoring Georgia’s masters of education. The honored individuals ranged from kindergarten teachers to military academy instructors.

“There was a really interesting range of educators that were honored,” Zuberbuhler said.

Kimble and Zuberbuhler said they returned to Idaho with many exciting ideas for BCC. They hope to connect with the community, offering training courses for local companies and enrichment classes for non-degree seekers. They also hope to establish opportunities for residents to earn a four year degree in Sandpoint. Board members are waiting to hear if they’ve won a $1.2 million federal TRIO grant that will help establish services. 

“We heard a lot of encouraging quotes on the trip,” Kimble said. “But my favorite came when someone said to me, ‘You can put in the minimum effort and limp along just fine. But if you choose to go the extra degree, the rewards are exponential.’ ”