Teacher Explorer Experience
The opportunity to be part of team GoNorth! as the teacher explorer was a dream come true. Although I wasn't able to involve my students and school as much as I would have liked, they were all able to jump on board and join me while I went north.
The trip actually had three parts for me: the adventure of getting to Kaktovik, the dogsled journey and the adventure getting back to Fairbanks.
Getting to Kaktovik involved a lot of support from my wife and colleagues. It also involved flying by the seat of my pants for 24 hours. It was all a whirlwind from the moment I received Aaron's call until I met him outside of the VECO building in Fairbanks 19 hours later. I was thrilled to be flying over the terrain that the team had traversed by dogsled during the previous weeks. Meeting up with the rest of the team and spending time with the villagers and teachers of Kaktovik was a very rewarding experience. I love to immerse myself in other cultures and Kaktovik provided me that opportunity. I absorbed a lot of information that I could bring back in to my classroom. Kaktovik also gave me time to be with the dogs and the arctic weather.
The journey itself was beyond my wildest expectations. Traveling over ice all day, making camp, enjoying time in the tent, all of these things are cherished and I tell anyone who ask s what a great time I had. There were different adventures each day, but what always amazed me was the dogs and the teamwork of our group of four.
The journey back to Fairbanks will be an adventure that will be hard to beat. It was awesome to fly so close to the Brooks Range and take in all the beauty. It was also a good time to reflect on what had taken place over the last two weeks.
This experience fired up my adventurous side. It inspired me to tell even more people about ANWR and the arctic. Even though I had seen only a small slice, it felt like since I had been there, I could now express concerns about the Arctic as someone who has seen it, not just read about it.
