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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

PA Educator Explores Antarctica, Falkland Islands with Fellowship

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Thursday, February 23, 2023   

A Pennsylvania educator is one of 50 teachers from around the U.S. and Canada who received a Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, an honor that came with a big adventure.

Katie Harnish, a fourth-grade teacher for Penn Manor School District in Lancaster, traveled with teams from National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions. Harnish said they went to Ushuaia, Argentina, where they picked up the National Geographic Explorer, an ice-class vessel, and traveled to the Falkland Islands. From there, they sailed to South Georgia Island and then, to Antarctica.

Harnish recalled they explored plants, wildlife, and animals in the area with the help of naturalists and undersea specialists.

"So, it was incredible," Harnish recounted. "I was able to see giant albatross colonies, I was able to see enormous penguin colonies, and see whales in the Antarctic waters. And all of those experiences fed these, kind of, really rich stories that I was able to bring back to students."

As part of the selection process, Harnish submitted a series of essays, a video and some references, and had to demonstrate how she would be able to use the experience in her classrooms to affect her students.

Harnish strives to help her students discover the wonder of the world and its people, and said when she returned from Antarctica, they were full of questions, eager to learn about the diverse wildlife.

"And so our classroom has really almost become focused around Antarctica, and they've all become specialists in different Antarctic animals," Harnish noted. "They've all researched, and you know, I'll say, 'Oh, well, I was on the Lindblad site recently, and I saw a picture of a leopard seal,' and, you know, my student who studied leopard seals will get really excited."

Harnish tells her students they do not have to travel the world to experience wildlife. Sometimes a walk in their own backyard will do, or in this case, just outside their classroom. Students have taken virtual reality cameras outside to capture images of wetlands and create a virtual tour that focuses on the ecology of their school's backyard.


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