In just a few days, seven eighth‑grade students from Patterson Park Public Charter School, their teacher Sabina Sully, and documentary filmmaker John Wesby will depart for Antarctica, marking the first polar expedition organized by a Baltimore City public charter school. The trip, supported by National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions and local sponsors, aims to give the students hands‑on scientific experience and to share that learning with the broader community.
According to Baltimore Fishbowl, the expedition was born from Sully’s 2024 experience as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow in Patagonia, where she witnessed both stunning wildlife and alarming plastic debris. Determined to connect Baltimore youth to distant ecosystems, she proposed the Antarctica journey and, contrary to her expectations, received enthusiastic backing from school officials, parents and sponsors.
Selection for the expedition was rigorous. Interested middle‑schoolers completed an application, wrote essays, secured teacher recommendations and faced a panel interview. From an initial pool of 25 applicants, seven students were chosen to travel, while an eighth student will remain at school to serve as the team’s science communicator, producing daily videos for classmates.
While in Antarctica, the students will use vlogging cameras, 360‑degree cameras and a Forward‑Looking Infrared (FLIR) camera. The 360‑degree footage will be edited with Towson University’s Film, Audio, Media Arts Department to create a virtual‑reality experience that Baltimore schools and community members can explore. Thermal images of icebergs captured with the FLIR camera will be contributed to Joe Muise’s citizen‑science project “Thermal Imaging of Polar Ice,” helping build a long‑term dataset on polar temperature changes.
John Wesby will document the preparation and the journey, later producing a documentary titled “From Baltimore to the Bottom of the World.” Wesby, who teaches film production at Wide Angle Youth Media Works, emphasized the lasting impact such travel can have on young people’s perspectives.
In the weeks leading up to departure, Sully’s class has engaged in community service, including oyster‑scrubbing projects and educational outreach about emperor penguins, an endangered species. Partnerships with the National Aquarium have highlighted connections between local keystone species such as Baltimore’s oyster beds and Antarctic krill, underscoring the ecological interdependence of the two regions.
What’s next: The expedition team is scheduled to leave for Antarctica within the next several days. Upon their return, the VR experience and daily video updates will be shared with Patterson Park students and the wider Baltimore community, offering an unprecedented glimpse of the polar environment.
Sources: baltimorefishbowl.com, baltimorefishbowl.com
