A Portage Collegiate Institute teacher will be spending a couple of weeks in the Arctic Circle this summer.

Jessica Painter is one of five teachers from across Canada to receive the $13,000 Teachers on Ice Scholarship. She explains it's a part of the Students on Ice program where students have the opportunity to take a research trip through the Arctic. This is the first year teachers have had the opportunity to apply for the trip and Painter shares how she feels to have been selected.

"It's a little crazy but all of my education so far has been toward ecology and biology and the sciences, as well as education," says Painter. "I was extremely honoured and excited about it because it's not something that everybody gets to experience and it's an absolutely unbelievable experience!"

Painter says she's really excited to see everything.

"I feel like I'm a tourist even though there are jobs that I have to do and I have sessions to teach and responsibilities while we're there," says Painter. "One of the things they stressed in the staff handbook was to make sure that you are there also as a learner. Whenever you're not working, to make sure that you're experiencing it as if you were one of the students and to fully embrace it. So I'm pretty pumped for that. The other part I'm really excited about is to learn from the other people that are there."

She adds she'll be able to take what she learns and bring it back to her students at PCI.

Painter shares one of the interesting points of the expedition is that absolutely no personal electronic devices are permitted.

"It'll be a throwback," notes Painter. However she notes they will have access to a computer lab as they are encouraged to blog about the trip. You can find the blog on the Students on Ice website.

Painter will meet with the rest of the expedition staff in Ottawa on July 22nd before flying to Greenland. From there, she says they'll hop on a boat to explore the fiords of Greenland before continuing over to Nunavut and returning to Ottawa for August 7th.