aoconnell@wiltonvillager.com

WILTON — A Wilton teen will be studying in a real winter wonderland over the holiday break — 13-year-old Shipley Foltz, an eighth grader at Middlebrook School, will be heading to Antarctica, where she will live for 10 days on a science research vessel.

"It's kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Shipley.

According to Reina Lahtinan, outreach coordinator for Students on Ice, Shipley will be one of 64 children and 25 adults on a sea voyage which will take them from the Drake Passage to the Antarctica mainland. The group — which includes students from Canada, New Zealand, Israel, Palestine and Japan — will observe Adelie and Gentoo penguins, look for whales and glaciers and visit Port Lockroy, Gerlache Strait and the Melchior Islands.

"Not a lot of people can say they have been to Antarctica," said Shipley.

Though this trip is new to her, Shipley is a seasoned veteran of trips abroad.

In 2005, the then 11-year-old got a letter telling her that an anonymous teacher at Middlebrook had recommended she join the Student Ambassador program, run by People to People. The group, which was founded in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower features a number of programs for both children and adults, including conferences, humanitarian outreach and travel opportunities. According to information provided by People to People International, the Student Ambassador Program sends delegations of students from every grade level to other countries for two or three weeks to learn about other cultures and teach their peers about their own culture.

The Foltzes decided to take advantage of it. Shortly after receiving her letter, Shipley shipped off on a three-week trip to Australia. The next year she headed off to Europe for two and a half weeks.

"This year she decided to go to Antarctica," said her mother, Isabel Foltz. "She's leaving from Dec. 25 to Jan. 8."

Foltz admits that thinking of her 13-year-old daughter on a trip to the Antarctica is nerve-wracking, at best, but said that she couldn't deny her child this experience.

"I'm very stressed out," she laughed. "But I think it's a very good opportunity for her."

"I'm very excited," said Shipley.

She and her mother have been in touch with the rest of the Antarctica delegation via conference call for the last two months. This trip is different than the other two trips in many ways, said Shipley. She was with classmates from Wilton in both Australia and Europe. The focus of the trip will also be very different; whereas the purpose of the People to People trips is cultural, the Antarctica trip is a scientific venture.

"The other trips were about culture," said Shipley. "Since nobody lives in Antarctica, this is going to be different; it's kind of like learning about Antarctica in itself."