LIBERTY TWP. — A Tristate teacher who recently returned from Antarctica will share her experiences as part of the kickoff this weekend of the “Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure” exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Cincinnati Country Day teacher Jan French at McMurdo Station. (Jan French photo) | ZOOM |

        “My purpose was to bring "real-life science' back to the classrooms — both at Cincinnati Country Day and at other schools across the Tristate,”said Jan French, a Liberty Township resident. She returned in November from an expedition to Antarctica and will be giving presentations today and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Museum Center.

        Sharon Harris, a teacher at Mother of Mercy High School who made the same trip two years ago, will also speak at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. And Sir Ernest Shackleton's granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton, will introduce films today and participate in a question-and-answer session at 3 p.m. The feature of the exhibit, which runs through May 12, is the giant- screen movie depicting Sir Shackleton's 1914 British Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition, which became a harrowing story of survival after their ship sank. It also includes hands-on exhibits and photographs and artifacts of the famed expedition.

        Ms. French has been sharing her experiences with schools and groups since her return in mid-November from an expedition that didn't turn out as planned.

        She was selected for an expedition funded by the National Science Foundation, as part of a program called Teachers Experiencing Antarctica and the Arctic. She intended to help collect ice cores to be shipped back to the United States for further research.

        “The point of the project was to study climate changes over the last 200 years,” Ms. French said. “Our team began its adventure at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and set about preparing for the expedition. As it turned out, I was involved in all the preparation work, but didn't get to experience the project itself.” Her role was cut short after a week when she fell on the ice, breaking her foot. “During my short time there, we were able to see the hut used by Robert Scott as a jumping-off point for his expeditions in the early 1900s. It was totally preserved because the air is so dry,” she said.

        She learned survival training, including how to make an igloo, assemble a camping stove and set up a tent in the ice. The group also spent a night in a tent, with 24-hour daylight and temperatures at about zero degrees.

        She flew home about a month earlier than planned, and the second part — the teaching — of her project began.

       To contact Jan French for a school presentation, call 561-7298, Ext. 8321. For Museum Center information, call 287-7000 or go to www.cincymuseum.org
       

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