18 March, 2000

Imagine you've been selected to go on the trip of a lifetime - something
you've dreamed about doing but never really believed you would have the
chance to do.  Now picture a room full of people like that and you will
have an idea of what orientation for teachers selected for TEA, Teachers
Experiencing the Arctic and Antarctic, was like at National Science
Foundation (NSF) Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Seated with fourteen other educators from around the United States, I
learned all about the structure of NSF's Office of Polar Programs (OPP) and
Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Science Education (ESIE) -
the two organizations who make TEA possible.  Major players in each of
these organizations shared their dreams of the role of TEA in advancing
science education and training throughout the U.S.  We also heard from past
TEA parcticipants, principal investigators who have worked with TEA's, an
expert on native cultures of the north, and other experts on surviving in
the working conditions of polar regions.  Their words, pictures, and
emotions put a bit more flesh on the dream of the trip and for me at least,
generated additional anticipation of the trip to come.  Fortunately, I only
have to wait two more months to head out on my adventure, I think I'd be
unbearable to live with if I had to wait 7 or 8 months like some of the
Antarctic TEA's.

If traveling to the Arctic or Antarctic and doing research is one of your
dream trips, I hope you have the opportunity to experience it at some time
in your life.  Until that time comes join us at TEA by following our
journals as we head into our trips of adventure and discovery.

More to come later, Jay