SUNDANCE SOCIAL STUDIES
TEACHER ON ICE

PEORIA, Ariz. – Students in Sundance Elementary social studies teacher Lori Bostick’s class followed her all over the world during the holiday break as part of their social studies assignment. The trip fulfilled Bostick’s life goal of visiting all seven continents.

Bostick was selected to lead a journey to Antarctica with 30 junior and senior high school students from across the United States. The two-week adventure was offered by the People to People (PtP) Program which partnered with Students on Ice (SOI). There were 40 students from 15 countries represented in the delegation as well.

The teacher’s Project Ideal students were involved in assisting with the planning and preparation throughout the second quarter. They researched the SOI website, and then created their own website on the Peoria Unified School District’s intranet. Each student was responsible for different legs of Bostick’s trip. They wrote questions for Bostick to answer while she was gone. The teacher taught a short mini-lesson to all Sundance seventh-graders the week before her departure.

Each day of her voyage, Bostick blogged about her experiences so that her students could follow her activities. They read about her life on an icebreaker ship for nine days and nights and her zodiac landings on the coast three times a day. The teacher shared her new knowledge about how humans can change their daily lives to maintain our planet’s sustainability. She came home with a new understanding about the powerful continent, marine and animal life, the weather, the ice, the history, the effects of global warming and the ozone depletion.

“My goal was to reach all seven continents, and now I want to use this knowledge and do some writing about my travels,” said Bostick. “I will continue to teach to share my travels with my students. But I think I want to continue to travel and reach every country in the world. Who knows? Maybe outer space next?”

She has been a leader for PtP since 1989, and has been the Area Director since 1996. In this capacity, she identifies outstanding teachers and trains them to become leaders.

The People to People Program was created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who believed that ordinary citizens of different nations, if able to communicate freely, could solve differences and find a way to live in peace. In 1969, he put those beliefs into action. The PtP mission developed around firsthand experiences with other cultures.

Click Here to View a Blog Lori Bostick
Wrote While in Antarctica.