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Everest 2003: Charlie Wittmack Dispatch Three
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Jordan Creek
Elementary: Today I have been
learning about Everest climbing from 106 fifth graders
at Jordan Creek Elementary School in West Des Moines,
Iowa. Only a handful of these students have ever been
to the mountains, but they have the facts and figures
of the worlds tallest peak on the tips of their
tongues. They knew the mountains height (both before
and after Steady Eds GPS trip), the rate of growth,
the speed of descent of the Khumbu Glacier and a
variety of historical facts.
During the next
several months as I slowly trudge toward Everests
summit, the students here will be climbing an
Everest of their own. The fifth grade class has
been divided into four climbing teams, each with the
goal of reaching the 29,035 ft. summit. In this case
one foot of elevation is gained for each page of a
book that is read by a member of the team. The
competition is fierce as these 10 and 11 year olds try
to beat me to the summit. As I put Everests
elevation in terms they understand, seventy-five
times up Iowas tallest building, they put their
project in terms that I can relate to, reading Walt
Unsworths book, Everest, 25 times. Im beginning to
think that I have the easier climb!
Everest provides a
format that helps students find inspiration to work
toward the achievement of their dreams. During one of
our workshops, I challenge each student to find an
Everest of their own. Today some of these included
building a car, becoming a Veterinarian and playing in
a symphony. Each of the students identifies their own
Everest and we plan a path to completing the goal
together.
We start by
establishing a foundation. These are major goals or
lifestyles that will help them establish a foundation
to reaching their dream. The four categories we
examine are Academic, Physical, Social and Personal.
An Everest expedition is a lot like starting a
business, I pointed out, and graduating from college
with a business degree is a great foundational goal.
Physical foundations include something general like a
commitment to physical fitness or a specific goal like
running a marathon. The social foundation has to do
with friends. Climbers trust their partners with
their lives and it is important to surround yourself
with people of character. Personal foundations
include issues of honesty and integrity.
After each student
outlines the foundation for their Everest we look at
specific short-term goals that will help them along
the path. Essentially we try to turn moments into
lifetimes. Each student identifies some specific
goals with deadlines that they will work to achieve
over the next week or two. Our aspiring veterinarian
has a foundational goal to become knowledgeable about
animals and will teach her dog to play fetch by next
Friday. A future professional skateboarder is looking
to get a business degree in order to help manage his
endorsements. This week his goal is to finish all his
homework on time. They are small steps, but part of
the process we use to build these positive moments
into lifetimes of achievement.
After the students
have a grasp on where theyre heading and how they
plan to get there we start to talk about what
obstacles might get in their way. The students start
to recognize that while positive moments take years to
turn into dreams, negative moments take them away at a
much faster rate. One bad decision might happen in a
single minute, but take you away from a goal you have
been working on for many years. Today the students
made a list of things that they think might get in the
way of their dreams and we brainstormed ways for them
to work around them by making good decisions.
Days like this make
you forget all about the summit. My expedition to
Mount Everest has already been a success.
Email Charlie
 Dispatches
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