TEACHER CLIMBING TO TOP IN AFRICA WITH CLASS HELP

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 1, 1993                   TAG: 9304010136
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SPRINGFIELD                                LENGTH: Medium
TEACHER CLIMBING TO TOP IN AFRICA WITH CLASS HELP
Ed Heffernan's third-grade students say they are the reason he was selected over about 1,000 other athletes for a chance to climb Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro.
The 8- and 9-year-olds wrote and illustrated a booklet about the mountain that featured Heffernan scaling the 20,000-foot peak. Heffernan included the book in his application for the trip sponsored by shoemaker Rockport Co.
"They picked him because they liked our book. We learned all about the mountain in class," said 9-year-old Dane Hixson.
Heffernan leaves next week for an orientation and will begin the five-day ascent April 15, he said.
"The fact that I was a teacher helped. It got me noticed," Heffernan said. "They told me that the book was the thing that set me apart, and they like the fact that I was going to come back and tell my kids about the trip."
His class at Newington Forest Elementary School will follow his progress on a detailed topographical map and in taped messages he will phone in before starting each day's climb, Heffernan said.
"That's how they'll start the day, hearing my message and figuring out where I am. I want them to feel they are a part of it."
He'll keep a detailed written and audio diary for the class, Heffernan said.
"He's going to bring us pictures and souvenirs and we're going to talk all about it when he gets back," said Barbara Fleming, 9.
"I think we ought to be the ones going," added Patrick Corey, 8. "I think we know everything about Mount Kilimanjaro that there is to know."
On a recent afternoon, the students spouted facts about the peak with ease. They know it is located in Tanzania and is one of the world's most popular mountains for climbing.
More importantly to an 8-year-old, they know there is a rodent on the mountain that is related to the elephant and has razor-sharp tusks. "It'll cut your finger off if you try to feed it," Dane said.
And they know about a tree called the "wait awhile," which envelops passers-by with vine-like arms and releases only after its captive has remained still for several minutes.
The class has studied the mountain since Heffernan was selected for the trip two months ago. The pupils now are learning how extreme elevation affects the body, as part of a lesson on human organs and digestion.
"It makes you throw up," said Kristen Green, 8. "Mr. Heffernan said it will probably happen to him."
Heffernan, 45, is an accomplished athlete. His application included a video of him running and working out, and race results of less than five minutes for a mile.
Climbers actually hike Kilimanjaro rather than scale it with ropes and spikes, Heffernan said.
"It's a walk, a very steep endurance walk," he said.
The 10 members of the Rockport group will go slowly, ascending about 5,000 feet a day, Heffernan said. Still, the group will hike eight hours a day and cover about 100 miles.
Heffernan and a California woman were picked to join Rockport employees on the climb, which will test Rockport hiking boots, said company spokeswoman Kate Toomey.
Rockport has sponsored similar stunts in the past, including having an employee run the New York City marathon in Rockport dress shoes. As it did with the marathon, Rockport likely will feature the Kilimanjaro climb in its advertisements, Toomey said.
"Mount Kilimanjaro seemed like the ultimate challenge," Toomey said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB