Wasilla teacher makes ice dreams reality

During Christmas vacation, a typical Wasilla High School student or teacher would be sitting down to another piece of pumpkin pie or a turkey sandwich, not a computer screen. Cheryl McDowell, a biology and AP environmental science teacher at Wasilla, however, is not typical. Though she does enjoy a good piece of pie, this Christmas money was the name of the game.

After researching grants and connecting with Dr. Martin Jeffries from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, McDowell sat down and wrote up a grant called "Project Sikuvik," which means "October Ice Time" in Inupiaq.

"Snow and ice is what we deal with six months out of the year. so I wanted to get my students involved in a scientific project that dealt with winter," McDowell said.

Approximately 520 teachers nationwide applied for the Toyota Tapestry Grant, but only 50 won. McDowell hit the jackpot and won $10,000 to turn Project Sikuvik into a reality.

"Most of the money will go toward specialized ice equipment, and teacher training/travel. I am in partnership with UAF and collaborating with schools in Seward and Nome," she said.

McDowell's environmental studies students have used the specialized equipment to measure ice thickness, snow depth and density, as well as air and snow temperature in order to calculate the overall heat flow moving into or out of Lake Lucille.

"The grant is wonderful. It gets my kids out on the ice and the level of interaction and involvement with UAF's Dr. Jeffries is amazing. Having that level of scientist interacting with high school students is rare," said McDowell.