To the Editor:

On February 18, 2018, twenty-six students from Potsdam High School will embark on a nine-day trip to the Galapagos Islands and Quito, Ecuador, on the western coast of South America.

Since last school year, through part time jobs and holding several group activities including hosting a district wide teacher luncheon, a painting class, a volleyball tournament, and several car washes, we have been raising money for this journey.

The final trip payment is due in December and our fundraising time is quickly coming to an end! Our final fundraising effort will be a community spaghetti dinner, generously sponsored by the Elks Club, as our last group activity before we go.

This letter is a call for volunteers to assist us in our last fundraising event.

This trip is not a vacation, but rather an expedition with a rigorous schedule to study both land-based and aquatic life-forms as well as to immerse students in the culture, food and languages of Equatorial South America. For many of us, this is the first time we will have traveled so far from home!

This expedition truly represents for us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because:

· Both the North Country, located in what is known as the Frontenac Arch Biosphere and the Galapagos Islands, located in the Archipielágo de Colon biosphere, are listed on UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve list, part of a world-wide network of 610 Biosphere Reserves in 117 countries

· The Galapagos Islands are the most incredible living museum of evolutionary changes, with a huge variety of endemic species (birds, land and sea animals, plants) and landscapes not seen anywhere else. The trip will expand our students’ understanding of biology and the natural world.

· Students will experience first-hand the different culture, food and languages of Ecuador.

· We will be proud and extremely excited to represent the North Country as ambassadors from one biosphere to another!

How you can help. The spaghetti dinner fundraiser is scheduled to be held at the Elks Club on November 28, and we are hoping to attract a large crowd either eating in or picking up a delicious take out order. The money raised from the dinner will help us to lessen the burden on students who are working hard to raise the money necessary for this amazing trip.

Supporting us will help us represent the North Country as young ambassadors to another of the world’s unique habitats and cultures.

Isabel Pecora

Model UN Member and Senior Class President, Potsdam High School, Class of 2018

April Barnes

Model UN Advisor and Potsdam HS Social Studies Teacher