The World is My Classroom

This past summer, thanks to The Henry Christensen Jr. Faculty Scholar Fund, Science Teacher Nika Blank ’16 embarked on an eight-day backpacking expedition in Alaska that she said has changed her as a teacher and as a person.

Blank, who teaches both biology and environmental science at Peddie, joined eleven other explorers, including three National Outdoor Leadership School instructors, to immerse in the tundra of Alaska, learn wilderness skills, build leadership skills and so much more.

The trip started in Anchorage, where she and her team prepared their gear with the bare minimum to carry and survive their journey through the wilderness. Once packed, a bush plane picked them up and dropped them into the tundra of the Talkeetna Mountains.

Their goal was to find their way out in eight days with just compasses and maps. Even the instructors hadn’t been there before. So, as a team, they planned, navigated, cooked, repacked their gear each day and made it to the next location to sleep for the night. The weather was rough to start. There was a thunderstorm, snow and their gear got wet. Then, for the last few days, there was amazing sunshine, and they made it back on schedule.

“When you go outside, science is happening all around you. In environmental science and biology, we often talk about biomes and the tundra. The students have a good idea of what it is and know the characteristics of it,” she said. “But being in it the way I was, and living with the diversity of it in Alaska – it was eye-opening. It was not only exceptionally beautiful, but there were so many intricate living communities within it.”

From what she learned, Blank will be able to pull content for her classes about the specific areas she explored and the ecological interactions happening there. “We can learn from books, but things are very different from what we think they are. This experience has given me a lens that helps to broaden my view of the natural world,” she said.

Blank is also grateful for the experience of knowing what it’s like to not worry about anything but what was in front of her – and the survival of the team. She looks forward to sharing the teamwork element of her trip, as well as what it’s like to truly disconnect.

“I’m really super grateful for this opportunity. It was a life-changing experience for me personally, not just in the ways I can give back to the school but also in the person that I am and the educator I’m hoping to be. It’s really changed me at the core as a person, and it’s given me the skills and confidence to take the students out in the wilderness and learn.”