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| Scarborough science teacher Emily Sherman points to the Svalbard Islands, part way between Norway and the North Pole, where she will spend seven days this summer thanks to a grant from the National Geographic Society, with additional funding by Oracle and Google. |
SCARBOROUGH — Emily Sherman is feeling on top of the world.
That’s because the Scarborough science teacher
is one of 14 educators the National Geographic Society is sending on an Arctic
expedition this summer.
“I was very shocked,” said Sherman on Friday
from her classroom, where she teaches natural science to freshmen, biology to
sophomores and environmental science to AP seniors.
“I applied to another polar expedition last year
and never even heard back even on the first round,” she joked. “I guess it’s
just a matter of what they’re looking for in the applications that year.”
What attracted National Geographic Society’s
attention to Sherman’s application was the same thing that recently won her a
Noyce Master Teacher Fellowship – her work with the Schoodic Education and
Research Center of Acadia National Park. To help bring biology casework into
the classroom in a way that is relevant to students, Sherman takes her students
to Acadia to collect field samples, which are then sent the academic labs to
measure the amount of mercury they contain. Studies of that work shows that the
toxin continues to accumulate in Maine’s most pristine environment, thanks to
Midwest factories.
“What I’d really like to do is write a case
study, a real-life scenario for the students to solve, based on data that I
collect in the Arctic,” says Sherman.
That’s exactly what the National Geographic
Society is hoping for with the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, a program now in
its sixth year. With funding from tech giants Oracle and Google, as well as
Lindblad Expeditions – made in 2006 to mark the 75th birthday of
former National Geographic Society Chairman Gilbert M. Gosvenor – the
society each year sends 14 K-12 teachers on what it describes as a
“once-in-a-lifetime professional development opportunity.”
“The object,” says the society spokesman, Kelsey
Flora, “is to enhance the geographic learning through direct experience so they
can bring that knowledge back to the classrooms.”
In groups of six and eight, Sherman and her public school peers will
travel to the Svalbard Islands, located about halfway between Norway and the
North Pole. There, they will do things that can be experienced nowhere else on
Earth, including seeing
a “midnight sun,” walking ancient glaciers and coming within sight of
polar bears, walruses and whales. They will be led by an expert team of
Lindblad-National Geographic explorers.
“This program recognizes exemplary educators for their commitment to
improving
geographic literacy and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders to be responsible
caretakers of our planet,” said Sven-Olof Lindblad, founder of Lindblad
Expeditions, in a prepared release. “We are delighted that these outstanding
educators, who are so strongly committed to hands-on geographic education, will
journey to Arctic Svalbard with us.”
“The partnership with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic is an
ideal fit of our
two missions,” said John Fahey, chairman of the National Geographic
Society and the National Geographic Education Foundation. “We believe in the
value of educational travel, and Lindblad’s programs are the best. Fellows will
have experiences they will never forget, which will surely prepare them to
continue inspiring generations of young people.”
But it’s not just a sightseeing trip. Sherman and the others
will be working all seven days they spend in the Arctic. In addition to
collecting scientific data and measurements, they will be required to
brainstorm ideas for creating innovative activities for their classrooms based
on their experiences, using photography, video and “geo-technology” equipment
to capture different aspects of the adventure. They also will be asked to
organize and execute “quick, flexible activities” and field observations for
local youngsters who will make the trip with them.”
That’s fine with Sherman, who expects the
impromptu exercises to make good practice for the activities she’ll lead
Scarborough students through when she returns.
However, the most important thing, she says, is
simply being able to share direct experiences – and that’s what students react
to best, she’s learned in her five years of teaching.
“Students repeatedly tell me that when I can
tell them stories about connecting to a place, they remember it more, because
it makes it more personal,” she says, offering up as an example the stories
she’s shared about her time as a water conservationist in New Mexico, where she
would often give tickets to people for watering their lawns during the day.
“Knowing me as ‘the water cop’ makes a lesson
about evaporation a lot more memorable,” said Sherman.
As an example from her own experience, Sherman
cites a polar science class she took three years ago at the University if
Massachusetts, made memorable by first-hand accounts from Antarctic explorers,
who recounted tales of working with penguins.
“They said the stench was unbelievable,” she
said. “Thinking about it now, it seems obvious with a giant colony of birds and
all the waste that must go along with that, but it’s not something I would
normally have thought of without someone sharing that first-hand knowledge.
And, of course, that helped the class stick in my memory.”
It was that class, says Sherman, which fed her passion for Earth’s polar regions.
“I just hadn’t thought a lot about the poles
before that, but we had a lot of scientists teaching us about climate change,
and how to graph the ice sheets, and just a lot of the history of polar
exploration, which I found fascinating,” Sherman said, adding, “I’ve been
applying to everything polar-related ever since.”
And what makes the poles so fascinating?
“I think they are so unique and otherworldly,”
says Sherman. “It’s like when we think of Mars, or space. I think part of the
appeal is that it’s not something you see every day. It’s a genuine frontier.
“Sharing first-hand knowledge about a place that
is still relatively little-known about is what I’m most excited about. I know a
few people who’ve been to Alaska, but no one who’s been to the Artic. Nobody
can describe to me what it’s like – the sights, the smells. Now, I’ll get
to experience that for myself and describe it to my students, probably none of
whom will ever get within 600 miles of the North Pole.”
But then, Sherman admits, there’s a certain
pride in being singled out for the Grosvenor Fellowship.
“It’s just really remarkable to be recognized
for what I do in the classroom,” she said. “I mean, I know I definitely go
above and beyond. The students know it. The parents know it. But it’s nice to
have an outside organization recognize that the work I’m doing with students is
something unique.”
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