WODS Board Member -- Bound for the Arctic

Bound for the Arctic | June 16, 2008 | Karen Kawawada | RECORD STAFF | CAMBRIDGE

Climate change and dance. Oceanography and blogging. It'll be an Arctic adventure unlike any other.

Cambridge student Chisomo Mchaina, 15, is one of 28 teens from around the world chosen to go on a two-week ocean expedition from Iceland to Baffin Island. It will make her a witness to climate change and later a voice raised against it.

Mchaina is a bit worried about getting cold or seasick, but far outweighing that is her excitement about seeing the Arctic and learning.

"I'm looking forward to learning about other people's perspectives about what to do to combat this problem . . . if we're at a point where we can't go back or if we can repair the Earth and come back from where we are," she said.

Southwood Secondary School is one of 15 high schools across Canada participating in the Cape Farewell expedition organized by the British Council. This is the second year there will be a youth voyage.

The idea is to use both arts and science to teach students about climate change and have them express what they learn.

Each chosen high school can send one student. There will be students from each province and territory, as well as students from Britain, Germany, Brazil, Ireland and Mexico.

Southwood geography teacher Christopher Giesler [ WODS Board Member - Co-Director of Disc Golf ] is also going on the trip. He'll be a mentor and facilitator and will help a permafrost specialist with his scientific work, he said.

The 16 other adult participants include a filmmaker, a geomorphologist, a dancer, a biogeographer, an illustrator and an oceanographer.

The students will do scientific experiments, create art in various media and do regular video conferencing and blogging, said Southwood teacher Nathan Maier.

A big part of the trip, and particularly of the one-week orientation in Toronto beforehand, is learning how to communicate effectively, said Patti Leather, executive director of the rare nature reserve in Cambridge.

"It's not just about the students who get to go; it's what they can learn and bring home to their community."

Rare is sponsoring Mchaina and another Canadian student. The school is also doing some of its own fundraising through eco-friendly projects such as selling seedlings and reusable water bottles, said Giesler and Maier.

Although the participants will burn fossil fuels to fly to the start of the trip in Iceland, as well as to sail to Baffin Island, there will be enough carbon offsets purchased to make the trip carbon-neutral, the teachers added.

The project isn't just about the students going on the trip.

Nearly 40 students are part of the Cape Farewell collective at Southwood and five, including Mchaina, are designated leaders who will lead activities next school year such as environmental initiatives in the school and talking to children and people in the community about climate change.

Megan Hempel, 17, is one of the "ground crew" and will go on the trip if Mchaina can't. She's excited about being part of the project.

"It's a chance to help make a difference," she said.