Skagway School is planning an international trip. In four years, high schoolers have the option to study global warming on the Marshall Islands. But it will take years of fundraising and educational preparation.

 

Kent Fielding is Skagway’s high school English teacher. He used to live on the Marshall Islands and has taken Skagway students there twice. Now he’s gearing up for a third trip.

The Marshall Islands are 5,000 miles from the Lynn Canal, halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The Marshall Islands are a sovereign nation, but maintain close ties to the United States. Their geography makes them especially susceptible to global warming. The country, made of islands at sea level, is sinking.

“They’re one of the first places that are experiencing climate change problems,” he said. “You know, A) with the bleaching of coral reefs and B) with the rising of the ocean. And so everybody in the Marshall Islands has a climate change story.”

Skagway School’s fifth through eighth grades have started fundraising now for their 2029 trip. The estimated cost is up to $5,000 per student. So far, fundraisers have included a comedy night for adults, silent auction and toy and game drive. The latest effort is a take and bake pizza sale for Super Bowl weekend.

The fundraising has proven to be a lot of work. About 27 kids originally signed up for the adventure. Around 16 remain.

Fielding expects the actual trip to be intense as well. He says most of the students from the last trip were on the track team, so he incorporated training into the day.

“We got up at 6 a.m. and actually did some exercise,” Fielding said. “And then by eight, we were out doing things, and usually we did not get home or get to bed until after 10 p.m. So, it was non-stop.”

The previous visit included activities such an ocean symposium conference, meeting local high school students, interviewing locals, visiting with a nuclear awareness group and blogging about all of their experiences. 

While the fundraising is full speed ahead, Fielding says he’ll wait a few years before incorporating the education component.

“Probably a year out, maybe a year and a half out, we’ll actually start doing all of the, you know, research stuff,” he said. “And that will be including looking at Marshallese traditions and culture.” 

In previous years, Fielding had students make contact with the editor of the local paper, Zoom with a Marshallese poet and learn some of the language. 

Students will have access to as many books as they want about the islands.

“I actually collect books on the Marshall Islands,” Fielding said. “So I have a library of about right now, 80 books just on Marshallese history, culture. And you know, memoirs of people living there and nuclear testing sites. I probably have the largest library of books on the Marshall Islands anywhere in Alaska.”

There are also expectations for students when they return. One group hosted a climate conference in Skagway.

Amara Fielding is in sixth grade. She’ll be a sophomore for the Marshall Islands trip. She also happens to be Kent Fielding’s daughter. And she’s a founding member of the Planet Protectors.

“Planet Protectors is a group that we started because of all the trash on the playground,” Amara said. “And now we go around town and pick up trash and come up with ideas to make our city more green.”

The Planet Protectors meet regularly at the municipal library. Besides picking up trash, they’ve presented ideas to the school board to encourage recycling, testified to the assembly about bear awareness and published a plea in the summer tourist paper for visitors to keep the borough clean.

The trip to the islands will be another step in Amara’s advocacy journey.

“Because we’re going to learn about the environment and that might get some people into what’s happening to the earth currently,” she said.

Amara hopes community members buy pizza from the current fundraiser and support the Marshall Islands trip.