Tangier Smith Elementary School third graders recently had a virtual meeting with Jared Collins, a William Floyd High School alumnus and current doctoral student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Collins is conducting scientific research in Antarctica.
Collins, who attended William Floyd schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, including Tangier Smith Elementary School and William Paca Middle School, is pursuing his PhD in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at UC Boulder. He aims to work as a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey after graduation.
As part of their social studies curriculum, Ms. Montalbano and Mrs. Contes’s class have been learning about Antarctica. Their studies included reading "La Foca Perdida, The Lost Seal," a bilingual children's book about Antarctica written by Diane McKnight, one of Collins's professors.
Collins's research is part of the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research program. This initiative gathers long-term environmental and biological data in Antarctica's largest ice-free area. Collins has visited Antarctica twice as leader of the Stream Team, focusing on stream ecosystems' biological processes under different environmental conditions.
The students' study concluded with an interactive video call with Collins where they learned about his travel experiences in Antarctica, survival gear requirements, living conditions, diet, wildlife encounters, local geography, and his research activities. Students also had the opportunity to ask him questions directly.
Ms. Montalbano and Mrs. Contes highlighted this activity as an effective way to demonstrate how Tangier Smith Elementary School contributes to successful journeys like that of Collins’s. Traci Collins, Jared's mother and a teaching assistant at Tangier Smith was present during this session.