Our mission is to help children from low-income families acquire the necessary skills in academics and social interaction to move successfully through grades K-12 and into adulthood. We do this by providing after school and summer programs which emphasize literacy and community involvement and use the talents of teachers, volunteer tutors, adult caregivers and a variety of local support services.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

GECRC Students learn how to blog & respond:

Will Jordan Romero Make It to the ‘Top of the World’?

Jordan Romero is about to set out on the adventure of his life. He is getting ready to climb the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest, which rises more than 29,000 feet along the border of China. If 13-year-old Jordan accomplishes his goal, he will be the youngest person to stand at the top of the world.

Jordan is an experienced mountain climber who has proven himself on many other mountains. When he was just ten years old, he became the youngest person to climb Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. In 2008, he climbed North America’s highest mountain, the 20,000 foot-high Mount Denali in Alaska. So far, as a matter of fact, Jordan has climbed the highest mountain on five of Earth’s seven continents.

Jordan knows all about the difficulties he will face on his Everest climb. Hurricane-force winds blow atop Everest much of the year. Temperatures can sink to 100 degrees below zero, and climbers often experience difficulty breathing as they climb. The youngest climber to climb Everest so far, a 16-year-old boy from Nepal, lost five fingers to frostbite as a result of his climb.

Many people say a 13-year-old boy has no place on Everest. Hundreds of people have died in their attempts to reach the peak, they say. But Jordan disagrees. He says his mind and body are set to go. “I’ve been training for four years,” he said. “I feel ready and I just want to start climbing now.”

Jordan will be accompanied on this climb by his father, his father’s girlfriend, and three guides, or sherpas, who know the mountain well. “If we encounter danger on the climb, we will not be afraid to turn back,” said Paul Romero, Jordan’s father. "We may or may not reach the top this time.”

If Jordan is successful in his quest to climb Everest, he hopes to climb Antarctica’s highest mountain later this year. With those two climbs completed, he will have achieved his dream of being the youngest climber to reach the highest spots on all seven continents.

Today, Jordan and his father are living at an Everest base camp about 18,000 feet above sea level. They are waiting for perfect weather conditions so they can begin their climb.

Questions:
Is Jordan too young to climb Everest?
Why do you think that way?

15 comments:

  1. No, its not a dangerous idea because he is not going alone. His father, and his father's girlfriend are going with him and it is not his first time to climb a mountain. - Mark

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  2. I think he could climb the mountain, but when he is 20 he could hurt some brain cells. - Daniel

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  3. Yes, he should go for it because he can give hope to children all over the world when he comes back from his trip. (If he makes it back alive!) He shouldn't go on the trip because he might lose his balance and can fall down or can hurt his head/brain. - Jovani

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  4. I think he should climb because if he does climb Mount Everest, that would be the 6th mountain/continent he has conquered. When he climbs the last mountain that he was going to climb, he will have climbed seven mountains on seven continents. - Gia

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  5. I think he should stop climbing the mountain because he could fall off and die at a young age. He could probably break a few bones. - Terry

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  6. I think he should because then he could follow his dream. His dream is to climb all of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. I also think he should not because he might get hurt and he might die. - Rosita

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  7. Is he too young? Yes, Jordan could not last climbing Mount Everest and he could slip and fall and start to roll down, which could lead to brain damage. So yes, he is to young. - John

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  8. He is not too young because he already climbed mountians and he has experince. He is going with his father, his father's girlfriend and the Sherpas. - Evi

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  9. He might fall off the mountain. He could die and his parents would feel sad and guilty for taking him there. He could also get really frozen so frozen that he couldn't move. - Taron

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  10. I think is not too young because he is a teen. - Soka

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  11. I think he is not too young to climb because if you put your mind to something you can do it and he climbed 5 other mountains and didn't die. - Ladu

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  12. I think he is not too young to climb because if you put your mind in the thing your working towards, you can get better. - Natalya

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  13. No, he shouldn't go because he can slip on ice and fall down. - Anonymous

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  14. Yes, he should go because he can have climbed six of the highest mountain ranges on the planet. - Anonymous

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  15. No, he shouldn't go because he might lose food/water on the trip and can dehydrate. - Anonymous

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