Steller 2009 Project
Our school is named after Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German naturalist and scientist who traveled with Vitus Bering to Alaska in 1741. He was born in Bad Windsheim, Germany in 1709. The good people of Bad Windsheim want to celebrate and commemorate Georg Steller during 2009, which is the three hundredth anniversary of his birth. They have discovered Steller Secondary School and have already reached out to us in several delightful ways.
Our school has been contacted by the Georg Wilhelm Steller Gymnasium, a school of about 500 students in grades 9-12 in Bad Windsheim, Germany. Our contacts include one of the teachers and a community member actively involved in the school. Other staff and students of the Georg Wilhelm Steller Gymnasium are very interested in forming a partnership with us.
An artist from Bad Windsheim has personally delivered to the school a beautiful artwork created of marble and depicting the Steller Sea Cow, which is named after Georg Steller and is now, sadly, extinct. The mayor of Bad Windsheim has written a letter to our mayor, Mark Begich, who is a Steller grad! Some people from Bad Windsheim traveled to Alaska, including Anchorage, last summer. Our principal, Karin Parker has received long distance phone calls from Germany. In short, these people are reaching out to us!
We need someone, or a group who may be willing to coordinate Steller’s response to the people in Bad Windsheim for a start. There are many, many exciting possibilities! This is a great learning opportunity touching upon so many subjects: history, botany, ecology, and conservation to name just a few. If you’d like to get involved contact Ken at varee_ken@asdk12.org.
Georg Steller on Wikipedia
Georg-Wilhelm-Steller-Gymnasium school (in German)