This fall, while his peers are focusing on getting students through the last part of the semester and onto Christmas break, Tyler Dixon will be far from the classroom, standing on the shores of Antarctica.
That’s because Dixon, a middle school physical education teacher at West Ridge School in Calgary’s southwest, was recently selected for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, a joint initiative by Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic Society.
And as part of that two-year fellowship, Dixon will embark on a two-week-long expedition to Antarctica, accompanied by naturalists, oceanographers, and other industry experts.
“It doesn’t feel real yet, I know what’s happening, but it really hasn’t set in,” said Dixon, who’s been a teacher for the past 17 years.
On Nov. 19 this year, Dixon will board a National Geographic ship called the Resolution.
Once the team has reached Antarctica, they’ll take part in daily excursions, including Zodiac rides, sea kayaking, hiking and cross-country skiing.
“They told us that most of the ships that go there with tourists can’t actually access the places that Lindblad does,” said Dixon.
“So we get to set foot on the Antarctic continent, we get to walk around, we get to view all this incredible wildlife up close and personal. It’s unbelievable.”
Dixon, who loves the outdoors, is also a member of the Global Environmental and Outdoor Education Council, a specialist council with the Alberta Teachers Association. He said the application process for the fellowship was quite comprehensive, but that he leaned on his past experiences of nature-oriented teaching projects to highlight what he could bring to the table if chosen.
He already travelled to Washington D.C. to take part in a pre-expedition workshop and meet the rest of the 2024 cohort — a total of 35 educators from across Canada and the U.S. who will all take part in different expeditions.
Dixon is one of just four Canadian teachers to be selected.
After the expedition to Antarctica, Dixon said he and the other educators are tasked with bringing what they’ve learned abroad back into the classroom.
“Being able to learn from experts in the field and then having an opportunity to bring it back and share that with the next generation of learners and the people that are going to be taking care of this place in the future, it’s pretty special.”
In a release, Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic society said this is the 16th cohort of educators who have been selected for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.
“This extraordinary expedition experience will provide these exceptional educators with invaluable insights into the intricacies of the world’s most diverse ecosystems,” said Amy Berquist with Lindblad Expeditions.
“Through their respective explorations, we hope they gain an even more enriched understanding of the world around them to ignite a passion for environmental stewardship in countless students for years to come, shaping the future of our planet.”