BALTIMORE, Md. — Eight 8th graders from Baltimore City are heading to Antarctica for the trip of a lifetime — and they earned every bit of it.
On November 15, the students from Paterson Park Public Charter School will fly to South America and board a ship bound for Antarctica, where they will spend two weeks working as citizen scientists.
"We're going on a big expedition. We're going there to be citizen scientists where we'll get to learn about how life is there and what we can do to preserve the Antarctic climate," said Daniel Pallchizaca and Tamryn Taylor-Wood, two of the student explorers.
The group calls themselves the Polar Explorers. For them, the journey is about more than adventure.
"We as kids get to do this, which is really crazy. We're a public school in Baltimore; I think we're going to inspire a lot of people with this amazing journey," said Frida Verta and William Barrow.
How it started
The expedition began as an idea from their teacher, Sabina Sully.
"Why not really challenge some of these narratives around who gets to travel and who is exploring? And we started this program around an interconnected earth; what happens in Antarctica impacts us here. Everyone was so excited for the kids and wanted to do what they can to help," Sully said.
Paterson Park Public Charter has taken trips all around the world, but never to a place like this.
Community support made it possible for the students to go for free — but they still had to earn their spots.
"Kids that wanted to apply had to do a paper-based application, get a teacher letter of recommendation, and they had to do a panel interview," Sully said.
For many of the students, getting in felt surreal.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I thought I had a very slim chance of getting in," William said.
"I was overjoyed; I didn't really expect it. It didn't feel real! It felt like a prank," said Aiden Ortiz and Isabel Loza.
The preparation
The students have spent the last few years of 6th and 7th grade working with the National Aquarium, the Maryland Zoo and other local partners to learn about Antarctica and complete volunteer work.
As 8th graders, they'll get the ice, look at penguin colonies, they will conduct thermal imaging and create VR simulations in partnership with Towson University.
The group will spend Thanksgiving on the ship — all of it bringing mixed emotions for students and their families.
"My mom, she was a little hard to convince; eventually, she said yes. My dad was proud," Joseph said.
"It's crazy, they didn't believe me at first when I told them," Aiden said.
Making an impact
For the students, the mission goes beyond the experience itself.
"Antarctica is going through a lot right now, and we're going not just for the fun of it, but to figure out what the issue is, how to fix it and not just us, but include everyone else around the world as well," said Aria Singletary and Joseph Gomez.
Sully said she hopes the trip reshapes what students — and the world — believe is possible for kids from Baltimore City.
"Creating opportunities for us to bring Antarctica to all the students in Baltimore City. For children in Baltimore City to see themselves in these spaces, that's what I'm most excited for. These children are ambassadors, bringing an environment that would've otherwise been inaccessible." Sully said.
"I want people to be inspired to know they can do anything," Joseph Gomez said.
"Even the smallest people can make change in big communities. To inspire others to get out of their comfort zone, because I'm clearly not going to be in mine!" Aiden said.
"When I grow up, I want to share this with colleagues and young people and people who are in the workforce with me," Frida said.
They'll return on November 28. You can follow their journey on Instagram.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
