SPRINGFIELD – How does a teacher learn about new subjects and ways to teach and engage their students? Academy of Arts and Academics science teacher Katie Ryan was selected to go on an expedition to do just that.

Last week, the National Geographic Society, in collaboration with Lindblad Expeditions, announced the 36 selected participants from across the nation for the 2026 Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship cohort. The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship is a professional learning opportunity for pre-K-12 educators who will embark on expeditions around the world.

The experience is meant to deepen the Fellows’ geographic knowledge through immersive, field-based experiences they will bring back to their classrooms, communities, and professional networks to ignite curiosity about the world.

Ryan was looking for an opportunity to further her professional development, so she went to Google. It was there that she found out about the fellowship.

“I was like, ‘This sounds amazing. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Ryan said. “I also thought, I will never get it the first time. I’ll have to apply for a couple of years.”

Daunting application

She submitted the extensive application last fall and tried not to get her hopes up. In February, she got the call that she had been selected out of the 700-plus other teachers who had applied.

“I was screaming and crying and couldn’t breathe all at the same time; it was a flood of emotions,” Ryan said about her initial reaction to finding out.

As a Fellow, Ryan will have the opportunity to embark on a National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions voyage to Antarctica. Throughout her expedition, she will have hands-on, field-based educational opportunities, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience that will inform her curriculum and inspire students to become environmental stewards.

Variety of science

She teaches various alternating science classes, including biophysics, chemistry, engineering, marine science, environmental science, anatomy, and physiology. Ryan is concluding her sixth year teaching, but her third at A3, where she said, “You will find my bones in the halls of A3. I will never leave this place.”

Ryan said a few years back that she applied for a grant and received funding to work with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa, for a summer, where she worked with other teachers to support conservation and biology curriculum development. She is not new to long voyages; however, this one will be a lot colder.

Ryan heads to the Antarctic in December and plans on bringing lots of cold-weather gear and wool clothing. In addition, she plans on bringing a ‘Flat Stanley’ version of the school mascot. In preparation for her journey, she will set up a ‘teacher-gram’ where her students can follow along, get updates, and ask questions about her travels.

“I can collect data or collect stories that I can bring back to my students to really deepen their connection with the learning, because I think that’s when all of us have a stronger understanding, when we can relate,” she said. “If you see a picture with your teacher next to a glacier versus just a glacier, there’s going to be a different interest level.”

Another way Ryan plans on incorporating what she learns during the expedition into her teaching curriculum is by sharing local stories about the places she visits.

“I think we sometimes forget that there’s a story that is being told with science, and being able to communicate that is a huge part of my classroom,” she said. “I’d like to share the stories that I hear along the way as well, whether those are people’s stories or the stories of the land or of the animals there, so that they can kind of understand more about that local perspective. It’s not just me and my little bubble in Springfield; it’s affecting all of us in the state. It’s affecting all of us globally.”

In addition to helping her complete a bucket list goal of setting foot in every continent, Ryan said the opportunity to have somebody fund and care about teachers bettering themselves in their practice is hugely important.

“I feel very honored,” Ryan said. “But also, why can’t we just bring 700-plus teachers on all these adventures with us? So many teachers deserve opportunities to continue improving their practice or to bring the world to their students. I think there are not enough opportunities like this, so it feels very humbling to have been chosen.”