‘Trip of a lifetime’: Calgary teacher returns from Antarctica

Only a select few grade-school educators get to join National Geographic expeditions. A Calgary teacher had the chance to explore Antarctica in December.

A Calgary teacher has returned from a life-changing trip to Antarctica, thanks to National Geographic.

Court Rustemeyer, an outdoor education teacher at Vincent Massey School, took the trip in December 2025 after being selected as a recipient of the National Geographic Society’s Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

“Truly a professional development trip of a lifetime,” Rustemeyer said. “I’m still trying to tell the story and figure it out for myself, to be honest. It has been just a wild roller coaster adventure.”

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Rustemeyer says he chose Antarctica as his number one choice during the application process, followed by Patagonia and then Greenland and Iceland.

He has been a teacher for 20 years, but this was his first time applying for the fellowship.

In total, 35 teachers from North America were selected, three of which were from Canada.

“I just thought about places I could not possibly get [to) on my own,” he said. “Or, let’s say, where could go and really capitalize on seeing this earth.”

Rustemeyer departed Calgary on Dec. 8 and headed to the bottom of the world.

“I spent a few days in Buenos Aires first, that’s where we started, and then we fly down to Ushuaia, the end of the earth, and just a beautiful area, and we toured around Taro de Fuego in Patagonia, which has unreal wildlife.

“Then we boarded this big, massive ship called the Endurance and we were actually below the 17th parallel for almost the whole trip. We were below the Antarctic Circle, because it was the end of the year and our captain was like, ‘We’re going to go where no ship has gone this whole year.’”

The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship has been awarded since 2006.

It was created in honor of Gilbert M. Grosvenor, a chairman emeritus of the National Geographic Society who worked for decades to support pre-K–12 teachers and promote geographic education across the United States and Canada.

Rustemeyer says he was on board the ship with tourists, but also researchers and scientists conducting wildlife and environmental studies.

“We would do multiple expeditions and kind of adventures per day.”

Now Rustemeyer is sharing some of the 4,000 photos he took along with what he learned on board the ship with his junior high students.

“With National Geographic, its a two-year commitment officially, in terms of storytelling, digitally and online within the community,” he said. “But for my students here, I know climate change is big, and things, icebergs and wildlife and those ones are definitely in conversations, and I want to bring back that explorer mindset.”

Grade 9 student Jack Chapman is impressed with his teachers adventure.

“It sounds like a pretty cool experience,” he said. “I think it’s pretty cool that (Mr. Rustemeyer) was able to go on that because it sounds like it was pretty hard.”

Grade 8 student Hannah Danzinger doesn’t know much about the Antarctic, but is learning about it through her teacher.

“It’s like almost being there for yourself, seeing it through like what he saw and it’s just pretty cool to see it,” she said.

Ilsa Carlson, a Grade 9 student, is impressed with the wildlife.

“Lots of penguins and there were like lion or leopard seals, and he showed us pictures of orcas, like killer whales, so those are really cool to see,” she said.

Rustemeyer is hopeful other Calgary teachers apply to the fellowship.

“These experiences are made for us to see the world and to share things, and so I hope that I can inspire one kid out there or one teacher that you can chase your dreams and you can push your limits a little bit.”