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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Galapagos Adventurer / Bountiful teacher participates in island expedition
By LORETTA PARKBOUNTIFUL -- First-grader Kyle Mower wanted his library teacher to see a volcano erupt.
"I really like the volcanos," Kyle said. "Most boys like volcanos because they erupt, that's why."
"Unfortunately, I was two weeks late," said Sheri Thompson about seeing a volcano erupt on her 16-day trip to the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles west of Ecuador.
Classmate Zak Aguilar wanted her to bring back more information on the Red-footed Booby, a type of seabird with long-pointed wings and long bills.
He was not the only student in Sandra Zakowski's class wanting to know about the bird, and other Booby birds.
Some students were more interested in the Blue-footed Booby, while others wanted to know about the Masked Booby.
The students had created a book with pictures and questions about the island and its wildlife for the Bountiful Elementary School media specialist.
She was to find the answers on her trip and let them know all about it when she returned.
"We want our students to have a world view," Thompson said. "If we can't save the Galapagos, what can we save?"
Thompson was one of 30 teachers nationwide selected out of 1,000 applicants to participate in an environmental expedition of the islands as part of the Toyota International Teacher Program.
Thompson was the only teacher from Utah, the only elementary teacher and, at age 60, the oldest teacher on the expedition.
"I was not going to be the first one to drop," she said.
A highlight of the trip was having Pete Oxford and his wife, Renee Bish, both National Geographic photographers, join them.
The pair are conservationists. Oxford has lived in the area and has photographed it for more than 20 years.
"I can't believe how much smarter I am after 16 days," Thompson said about learning why it's important to protect the environment and how to protect it.
Thompson left on Nov. 21 and returned Dec. 7. Since then, she has done presentations with students about how simple decisions, like leaving trash on the ground, impacts not just the small area, but the world at large.
"Our decisions do make a difference," Thompson said.
She pointed to photographs of the first island her group visited. Next to the sea lions was trash from cruise ships.
Thompson did an experiment with the students to show them what happens to clean water when items, such as sneakers, cigarette butts and toilet seats, are deposited in local waterways.
Those waterways end up in the ocean, she said.
In January, Thompson will do a presentation about the islands for families of the students.
Thompson learned while she spent 16 days traveling and she taught as well.
She did a presentation about Utah, the United States and Native Americans at a high school.
She took a portable campfire with her for part of her presentation.
Thompson said teaching in the schools on the island made her appreciate Utah schools.
"Our poorest school is better than the best school in Galapagos," Thompson said.
Yet, the students are the same.
"They just want to be listened to, respected and they want to learn," she said.
And the teachers are like teachers in Utah.
"They want their students to have more," Thompson said.
Only 15 percent of the islands' high school graduates get a college degree. The rest are funneled into service-type jobs with no future.
Yet, they know they live on a "treasure" and are trying to find ways to preserve it, she said.
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