Coldest Classroom on Earth

That is the latest news. More bulletins throughout the night. It

is time now for Coldest Classroom on Earth.

My name is Luke Dicker and I suffer from attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder. This is the story of my journey from

Springfield to the North Pole. How I came to mentor four other

youngsters. I am so excited. overcome the challenge - the

It is much 2010 and it is that my old school in Springfield. -- March.

Are you all right? Not bad. I took on a special role. It has been

quite a journey since I was 15. was like being on an alien planet.

I did not understand people, their facial expressions, what they were

saying. So everything was offensive and everything I said was offensive

to everybody else. I realised there was something wrong with me. I have

Asperger's syndrome, ADHD and to read syndrome. The autism, you find

methods to cope with it. You do not sit in a corner and not talk to

anyone. You get sociable and get on with it. The ADHD, that one I am

working on. When Luke Dicker came here, he was a very lonely person.

To think there was a time when he would not even leave his room. He

could not even attend class. What he has been through his remarkable.

He has a future. He is now working as a mentor. He is so passionate

about the journey he has been through. If he can sell what he has

done and encourage the others that followed him, they will have a

positive future as well. A year on and by mentoring role has

stepped up. Time for a different challenge. We has come to the

University of Gloucestershire to see if we are fit enough and get a

taste of the cold. Nice to see you. Not bad. With temperatures dropping

to -17 and below, we are testing if we can tolerate the freezing cold.

It is hard to breathe. Today, we begin selecting a team of four

students. All with behavioural problems that will go to the North

Pole. The inspiration for the expedition came from the head

teacher. He is determined to prove it can be done. Quite a few people

-- people said, you are taking on too much. Unfortunately, these

young people to have special needs. What I want to challenge and sure

the system is that it does not matter what label a child has got,

it does not matter how affected or what those issues are, with the

right people and the right place to win the right thing and saying the

right thing, giving those young people the real core belief that

they can achieve anything, with the right people and the right place,

it can achieve anything. We will be led by a polar explorer Alan

Chambers. He is a veteran of the first unsupported expedition to the

North Pole. Dawning us will beat sports and business mentors. --

joining us. We will take the children 78 degrees north, half way

from the Arctic Circle to the North Pole. A tiny hamlet. It is at a

remote place. There will have to accept the new environment and work

with new people. A lot of trust and honesty that has to be shown by the

older staff and the children. Just to be there in the wilderness will

bring its own issues and we will see how we combat those hurdles.

These kids are from a great school. They are in that school because

they have their own personal challenges in life. This is about

us conveying to them that they can feel safe and trust us. That is

what it is about. That children can gain people's Trust in society and

hopefully this exercise will catapult them forward in life.

makes my blood boil when people stick a label on them and say, why

are these keys -- keeps getting this? You have to look at what they

have been through. Someone like Luke Dicker has had to take himself

into a challenging environment and, to beware those kids were a few

years ago, that is incredibly powerful. -- to be where those kids.

Cut my hand on a pudding 10! will I be mentoring as I take on

this to the challenge? -- this chilly challenge? I did not believe

it at first and then a day later I thought, I am actually going to the

Arctic. In 2006, my father died of a heart attack and I found that

very hard. I have dyslexia. I have learning difficulties. I used to

sit at the back of the classroom and not the work. I got expelled. I

could not spell, but could not do anything. My behaviour was shocking.

This compares -- this will be one of the biggest challenges in my

life. It will make my views of the world changed. I rang up my mum and

I was really happy. It will be a life experience. To cope with the

cold and that. To learn how to listen and work as a team and that.

Wow! I started crying. I did not think I was going. It was

exhilarating to think I was going. I am worried about the physically

and mentally how it affects me. I will just try my hardest to try to

shine. We have chosen a really good group of kids. We have not taken

the easiest jobs. They all have their stories. Talent is definitely

a perfect choice. He is a smashing kid and has come far. And then

Stephen has made tremendous progress in the last couple of

years. When I first came, you could not have a conversation with him

and now he's a very affectionate and very nice and giving it his

best. If we can all make it, they can do anything. The sky is the

limit. Now that preparations are over, it

is time to see if we are up for the talent but first we have to get

By the time we got there, we left at 5pm, we got the Arctic at 2am

the following morning. So the kids got through that. Very challenging

environment. OK, first day of my video diary.

had three hours sleep and have been up for a stupid amount of hours. I

am going to get to bed and I will catch up tomorrow.

After a bit of camp, which perked up a little bit. -- after a bit of

It is lunchtime now. It says, welcome to a restaurant. We have to

learn how to work as a team and not squabble as much and give each

other space. It is quite a claustrophobic environment. I am so

hungry, it is not even funny. It does not look too bad. It does look

bad but I think it will taste good. This trip is about being in an

alien world, a very cold alien world, getting on with it and

finding ways to do it. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever

seen. How old is it? Very old. The oldest ice. Maybe 3,000, 4,000

years old. I am in this situation where potentially life or death if

you don't listen. To be honest, it depends on your safety. If you do

not listen, you could get seriously injured. He has learned to say

situation which is good. Situation. That is a polar bear. I have to say,

Stephen has come out of his shell. So Keegan has been brilliant. He is

having such a good time. -- Stephen. I am just going to go round and ask

the pupils how they feel about themselves. How are you feeling?

Quite tired. But quite excited. Great stuff. You? Everything has

changed. You come into a new country, you do not know what to do.

Thank you. Steve? You are basing Today we started the actual

expedition. We are doing eight hours on skid do's and then four

hours to go to the camp. I am looking forward to driving them. It

will be amazing. It is really confusing. There is snow, we have

these skin two's, bikes, it is confusing. It is like one big thing

altogether. If you are all ready, come with me to the Snow Mobile.

Today is probably one of the first days the children get to experience

this. I am so excited. The essence of this is taking the children

completely away from their normal environment. Not only in the

wilderness of the high Arctic but looking out for each other, working

as a team and making sure that we spend the next nine hours working

together. Not only just that, enjoying the whole day. Four pupils

from Springfield School, they have been in this climate for about a

day and a half and this is where they realise what is out there in

the world and what they can achieve. The toughest thing for them,

tonight, ahead of this, we have about a five-hour trek up through

the glazier, minus 20 or minus 30, we will be camping out tonight.

That will be a real challenge for We are at the business end now. I

think this will be where it will challenge everyone, including

myself. We were up this morning at 6am. It is minus 20 at the moment.

It will get Calder once we get to the other end. We have to prepare

everything, all this leads. Or we have called hands and called feet.

-- cold hands and cold feet. It is interesting to see how people have

coped with it in different ways. There is a bit of adrenalin. I

think it is the fear of the unknown. They will always be trouble and

problems especially with kids with difficulties. But if you can

overcome this genuine life-and- death situation, you can overcome

those social nickels and learn not to be so self-conscious and easily

offended and take it on the chain and get on with it and deal with

life. # My fate is shaking but I've got to keep trying. Got to keep my

head held high. There's always going to be another mountain. I'm

always going to want to make it move. It's always going to be an

uphill battle. Sometimes I'm going to have to lose. It's not about

what's waiting on the other side. We walked about 6.5 km uphill

dragging a heavy sled. Now it is really cold. But it has been good.

My eyes are frozen as well as my beard. But it has been good. Really

good. That's how cold it is. You can see the steam coming off my

blogs. It is 9am at the moment. We would get all the sleds packed up,

get back in the tense to keep warm and leave here at 10. Do you want

to be part of the team Steve? Everyone doing a little bit, you

will feel better for it mate. Come on. That's it. It must have been at

least -400. It was so-called! and was going to be a piece of cake.

One night camping, how hard can it be? Having trekked for miles,

conquered a place here and spend the night at -50, time to go

hundreds of feet underground to explore the incredible ice caves.

Are you ready? Let go! We get to go into an ice cave and see what it's

like. It will be good I think. are inside the glacial. Incredible!

The reason they to the ice is Gray is because it is made out of snow.

When snow deposits on the top, it starts to press the other snow down

and the lower down into the lazier, the higher the pressure. The oxygen

in the snow is being pressed together. When we see the grey in

here, it is actually bubbles of air. These are about 5,000 years old.

Look at this! This is amazing. Look at that! You wouldn't see that at

home would you? That's amazing! Think how many years it's been

here! Look at that! Its amazing man. A Euro? You sure? Fascinating? You

never seen anything like it before have you? Know. We walked over the

top last night with the sledges and now we are right underneath

underground. Incredible. If you have done really well. That is

brilliant. Amazing. It is our last day and I'm first up. Wake up. How

are you today? Tirade. You looking forward to the dog's lead? Yeah.

How do you stop them? Used a lot of -- this expedition has been a

changing point for us all. Steve, tell us about your experience. What

have you learned? To work as a team, listening. Have you found anything

particularly easy or difficult? was all difficult. He was minus 35,

he was quite an individual and didn't pull together as a team. In

the last few days he has rarely shown his true colours. Of all the

kids, if I had to pick one who has really grown and blossom, --

blossomed, it would be him. A few months later, and the experience of

the poll expedition has had a lasting impact. My confidence has

grown because they did not have much before the trip. Before I went

I was quite naughty and they did not bother with lessons. But now I

have started to know that I'm worth it and that I should try. I think I

have become a different person. I know that I can do these things

which I never thought I could do. I have learned as I have carried on

and moved my life. 1 I was in the Arctic, it may be notice that I

have got to do my best and try and not give up. They said we should

not take them. Well we have been there and done it. Why wouldn't you

take them? They have got in self- confidence and a sense of

achievement. It is a concerning time the society that we have to be

so PC. Challenge the labels and remove the labels. The only way we

can help these young people is to challenge them, to show them they

can do the impossible and go beyond what we deem to be normal. Evenlode

was anxious about going. In terms of self-esteem and positivity

leading onto Independents, that is the greatest message we can give.

Next challenge, we're going to go to the acquittal. I'm looking to