Eight Baltimore eighth graders are heading to Antarctica for a once-in-a-lifetime science expedition

The students will spend two weeks studying climate change, observing penguins and conducting scientific research during the all-expenses-paid trip.

Most eighth graders spend Thanksgiving at a family table. Eight students from Baltimore City will spend theirs on a ship headed for Antarctica.

The students from Patterson Park Public Charter School leave Nov. 15. They will fly to South America and board a vessel bound for the continent, then spend two weeks there working as citizen scientists, WMAR 2 News reported. They return Nov. 28.

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The group calls itself the Polar Explorers, and the students are clear that the trip is about more than the novelty. Daniel Pallchizaca and Tamryn Taylor-Wood told the station they are going to learn how life works in Antarctica and what can be done to protect its climate.

The idea came from their teacher, Sabina Sully, who wanted to challenge assumptions about exploration. “Why not really challenge some of these narratives around who gets to travel and who is exploring?” she said.

Sully built the program around the idea of an interconnected planet, where changes in Antarctica ripple back to Baltimore. She and fellow teacher Elizabeth Gutting will travel with the students.

The trip costs the families nothing, thanks to community support, but no one was simply handed a seat. Applicants submitted a written application, secured a teacher’s recommendation letter and sat for a panel interview.

Several students admitted they doubted they would make the cut. William Barrow said he thought he had only a slim chance. Aiden Ortiz and Isabel Loza described the moment they were selected as so surprising it felt like a prank.

The work began long before the plane tickets. Through sixth and seventh grade, the students partnered with the National Aquarium, the Maryland Zoo and other local organizations to study Antarctica and complete volunteer projects.

On the expedition, they will observe penguin colonies, conduct thermal imaging and build virtual reality simulations with Towson University.

The scale of the trip took some getting used to at home. Joseph Gomez said his mother needed convincing before she agreed, while his father was simply proud.

What gives the expedition its weight is who is going. Students from public schools in cities like Baltimore are rarely pictured on polar science voyages. Sully told the outlet she wants the trip to help children across Baltimore City see themselves in spaces that once felt out of reach.

The students have their own version of that goal. “I want people to be inspired to know they can do anything,” Gomez said. Aiden put it plainly: “Even the smallest people can make change in big communities.”

Supporters can follow the expedition on the group’s Instagram page.