Atheneum Ghent

We're a class of 21 students studying science in the Royal Atheneum III in Ghent. Ghent is a city situated in the northwest part of Belgium, 55 km from Brussels, our capital city. It is known for its beautiful historical buildings, cathedrals and a castle in the center.

Our school is a very big one, over 1000 students in grades 3 through 6. We are all in 4th grade ranging from age 15 to 16.
Fish-shaped group picture.

Our biology teacher brought up the idea to join the class@poles project earlier this year. Werner, one of our classmates, designed a hypothetical expedition that would investigate the effects of pollution on the natives of the North Pole. While researching for this project a lot of us became very interested in marine science. Werner got the 'once in a life-time chance' to join leg I of the class@poles expedition to the North Pole. We all followed his adventures with great excitement. A couple of months later we learned about cold water corals and got the opportunity to ask questions to a real expert in the field, Prof. J-P Henriet. We all ended up being completely intrigued by these strange underwater creatures and we can't wait to follow the adventures via live satellite communication of Belgium's first ROV in June.

Our biology teacher

Mevr. M. Eggermont, our biology teacher, has studied veterinary science and is pursuing a Masters in Marine and Lacustrine science at the University in Ghent. She is currently taking a summer course on health and diseases in aquatic species at the Hawaïan University of Marine Biology. She is preparing her thesis in cooperation with VLIZ, with the intent of creating lecture packets on marine issues to be used by high school teachers.

The pupils

Werner De Waele
Birthday: 08/05/90
Age: 16
Grade: 4We (fourth year science/maths)
Favourite subjects: Sports, biology, chemistry, maths (under parental pressure), languages (non specific more), …
Language skills: Dutch, English and (a bit of) French
Hobbies:
  • Going out
  • Having fun with friends
  • Cooking
  • Travelling
  • Acting (plays)
  • Music (everything that isn't noise)
  • Movies (psycho, Brokeback Mountain, …)
  • And so much more

Thanks to my teacher biology, I got involved into the class@poles-project. I was one of the lucky winners of the competition, and so I stumbled into the giant thing called "science". It woke an enthusiasm; which was unknown to me, and so I'm still trying to stay "in touch" with the sci-fi of our times. I'll be leading the live conversation with professor Henriet, who I (at least a bit) know personally, from the trip to Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen, Svalbard) we made. The trip was the prize of the class@poles - competion.

Visit our website: http://schoolweb.argo.be/ka/gent/voskenslaan