Now that’s a cool school excursion

SIX students from St Virgil’s College have put Australia on the Antarctic map.

The students — from left, Jack Wallace, Josh Young, Haidar Alnasser, Oliver Mihal, Phoenix Robey and Zachariah Alnasser — are among the first children to fly to the continent as part of the Australian Antarctic Program.

And they were understandably keen to stretch their legs at Wilkins Aerodrome after a 3000km flight from Hobart.

The group and six students from Secret Harbour Primacy School in WA spent three hours on the ice, meeting Australian scientists and expeditioners.

HAIDAR Alnasser won a competition to name Australia’s new Antarctic icebreaker and now his name will go down in history as one of the first children to set foot in Antarctica.

A group of students from St Virgil’s College and Secret Harbour Primary School in Western Australia on Wednesday became the first children to fly to the continent as part of the Australian Antarctic Program.

The 12 students, who won a competition to name the RSV Nuyina, flew the 6000km round-trip from Hobart to Australia’s Wilkins Aerodrome.

Haidar, 14, said the trip had inspired him to pursue a career in Antarctic science.

“For us to be the first Australian kids to put our feet on to the Antarctic ice is such an amazing experience,” Haidar said.

“I think I’d love to work as an Antarctic explorer or scientific researcher or anything to do with the Antarctic division.

“It looks like they’re doing a great job and I’d like to be a part of it some day.”

The Year 5-8 students and their teachers spent three hours on the ice, meeting Australian scientists and expeditioners.

They visited an Antarctic field camp with polar pyramid tents and drilled an ice core, learning more about the role Antarctica plays in the global climate system.

Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said it was a unique experi- ence for the group of students.

“This is a trip of a lifetime for these kids who have won a national competition to name our next icebreaker,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“Who knows, we may have taken the next Mawson or Shackleton to Antarctica today.”

St Virgil’s student Phoenix Robey had a ball.

“It was amazing, it was so much fun and I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“Most exciting was having a snowball fight with the minister and all my friends.”

The weather was — relatively — kind for the visit, with light winds and the air temperature was about -11C.

RSV Nuyina is due to arrive in Hobart in 2020.