Tuesday was a very exciting day to be a second grader in the Dracut Public Schools! We were able to participate in a live video chat with Neil Foley, a graduate student and scientist in Antarctica. Ryan R. is one our second grade students in C-8 and Neil is his cousin. When Ryan’s mom, Andrea, heard that Mr. Berube had visited our classroom to teach the students about his time in Antarctica in the 60s, she suggested the video chat.
After a lot of planning, the event finally happened Tuesday and included all of the second grade students at Brookside, Campbell, and Greenmont. The children had the opportunity to interact with Neil by asking questions.
Neil not only chatted with the Dracut second graders in real time, he provided the children with a wonderful powerpoint he created with photos he has taken in Antarctica.
The children saw the beauty of the land of Antarctica and its wildlife. Neil also showed photos that explained his scientific work there and how the scientists like Neil lived both at McMurdo station and in the “deep field.”
This unique learning experience was very exciting for everyone involved…the students, the teachers, and other interested adults such as Mr. Berube. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible including Mr. Stone, Ms. Smith and the rest of the Dracut Public Schools administration who were so open and supportive of this wonderful opportunity. Special thanks to Mr. Ken Moge who provided invaluable technical support throughout planning stages and coordinated the participation of all three elementary schools on the actual day of the event. Thank you to Mrs. Porcello and the rest of the second grade teaching team for their help and flexibility. Thank you to Andrea R. for the initial idea and connecting us with her cousin, Neil and to Mr. Berube for his yearly visits which inspired this event. We’re glad you were both able to attend. Lastly, thank you to Neil Foley! This event would not have been possible without you! You took the time to share a fantastic learning experience for our second grade children which they won’t soon forget! Hope we get to meet you in person some day!
What a fantastic and unique experience!
I don’t know who was more excited, the students or the adults!
I was there to enjoy some of the conversation and presentation – which were great, the kids seemed very excited to speak with Neil.
Glad you were able to stay for some of the presentation. Sorry I forgot to tell you it was pre-empting sight word testing!
thanks for all of your hard work to make this possible! It was an amazing experience for ALL of us!
Thank you Mrs. P for all your help and hard work on this too!
Hailey loved seeing Neil. I loved showing my family
Thank you for sharing it with your family!
What a great experience for the kids!
Thank you Neil.
He did a great job relating to the kids!
Thank you Mrs. Riordan, Mrs. Porcello and anyone who had a hand in putting this together! The kids were so great and seemed to enjoy it and…we LOVED seeing our loveable-hairy cousin!!! He said he’ll be getting a grooming before Mom sees him on Skype!
Thank you Andrea for giving me the idea!
What am awesome idea! I’m so glad it went so glad it went so smoothly. Thomas really enjoyed this unique learning experience and has been talking about it for two days! Thank you to everyone involved!
That’s great that Thomas enjoyed it so much that he went home and told you about it.
Looks like everyone had fun learning about Antarctica.
I believe they did!
Gavin enjoyed the video chat so much that he is asking if we could vacation there!
I don’t know if I’d want to vacation there but you can see the breathtaking photos in Neil’s powerpoint which is on the main page of the Dracut Public Schools website (www. dracutps.org).
Wow! Those pictures were breathtaking. Makes me feel better about the 4 degree temperature this morning. Thank you Mrs. Riordan for directing us to that page.