Crystal and I had the wonderful opportunity to educate fifth and sixth graders in Sterling, Alaska today on the joys and wonders of abandoned mine exploration. With a heavy emphasis on safety, we explained the importance of abandoned mine preservation and told them of our group's latest adventures and service projects. The children were very excited and had lots of great questions, "If you got stuck in a mine would you drink the water in there?", "How many mines are in Alaska?", "Do you guys ever get scared?", were just a couple. Crystal passed around a few mineral samples and artifacts while I presented a slide show and a short video. Many of the children expressed interest in joining the group, but were disappointed to find out that they had to be at least eighteen to accompany us on any exploration trips. A few vowed to come find us when they were of age and I heard one child say he was going to take pictures off our website and post them on his MySpace. We passed out little Mojave Underground Mine Team stickers to all the kids and then we finished up by eating chocolate Brownies. Crystal and I were thrilled to talk about our favorite activity while teaching the children about the historical and economical importance of mining past and present. We look forward to many future opportunities teaching children of all ages in many different places.
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