A passion for geography and a belief in sharing that with students has earned Andrew Kitchen recognition as part of a select group of Canadians whose efforts expand geographic knowledge and literacy.

Kitchen, a teacher at Fairhaven School, was recently named a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, joining a unique fellowship that includes explorers, astronauts, scientists and other public figures, but also researchers and those such as Kitchen whose work is to educate others about Canada.

"It's a pretty cool honour. As a teacher I don't know if it is that great of a deal, but as a geographer it is a pretty big deal," said Kitchen, who is a member of Canadian Geographic's education board. As part of that work he has the opportunity to provide input into the society's teacher resources and promote geography among his fellow educators.

Those selected as society fellows are individuals who demonstrate an interest in the society's mandate and programs and engage in the effort to "make Canada better known to Canadians and to the world," according to the society. The society has approximately 970 active fellows who are entitled to use the designation FRCGS following their name.

For Kitchen, who has degrees in both geography and education, the involvement with the society brings together his love of geography and his work as a middle-years educator in Saskatoon Public Schools. He is an advocate for cultural education in his classroom and believes students should learn about the world and how to explore the planet.

"I always ask questions when we are doing current events: Why there? Why care? Why share?" he said. "It's a pretty big geography model and it's something that we use a lot of in geography. It is to get kids to think spatially about why, for example, was a city put there, why should we care that the city was put there and why should we share this with other people? I get my students to think like that all of the time."

Geography is a field of science that encompasses the study of Earth's land, features and inhabitants. The specific course title may not be found on an elementary student's timetable, but the branches of human and physical geography that make up the broader field of study are found in many areas of everyday student learning.

 "Geography has become so integrated into all of the other classes that you don't even realize that some of the things you are doing — you are thinking it's biology or environmental sciences — are actually geography. It's the skills of geography, just in a different form," Kitchen said.

The Internet provides students with more access to information than ever before, but Kitchen emphasizes that even though students have information at their fingertips they must have a level of basic knowledge and skills in order to assess and think critically about that information.

Kitchen shares his excitement for geography with students in a number of ways. This fall, a new outdoor education opportunity for Fairhaven's Grade 7-8 students provides the chance for students to explore and examine their neighbourhood and broader community in a hands-on, experiential manner.

"It's once week so for about an hour we go outside and usually learn some kind of geographic learning. One day we went out and mapped out playground, one day I hope we are going to go out and build snowmen. Then we are going to deduce why we picked the locations we did to build our snowmen," Kitchen said, adding that orienteering and other outdoor activities are also among the plans.

When not teaching he spends his time travelling the globe seeking new perspectives on education, cultures and communities. He shares those experiences with his students and others through photography and social media with the assistance of Pixel, a small, stuffed toy that was a gift from a student.

"My travelling teddy bear," he said with a smile. "It's the way that I share my geography with students. Every time I take trip it comes with me and I usually try to get a few pictures with him wherever we are. It's a way to share geography that is not just Saskatchewan or not just Saskatoon."