Fun with Character: Fortitudine Vincimus (By Enduring We Conquer)

This was the family motto of Sir Ernest Shackleton, who named his ship The Endurance. It was a 300-ton wooden structure designed to withstand the ice for its mission to Antarctica. In 1914, Captain Shackleton and a crew of 27 set sail for the first crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. Within eighty-five miles of the continent, their ship Endurance was trapped and slowly crushed by pack ice. With no communication to the outside world, their ordeal would last twenty months. With Shackleton’s inspiring leadership, the crew struggled to stay alive in one of the most inhospitable regions of the world. Miraculously, not one man was lost, surviving extreme cold, breaking ice floes, leopard seal attacks, and an open boat journey that would be called one of the greatest navigational feats in nautical history.
No discussion on Endurance would be complete without including this adventure. There are 2 children’s books listed below that contain many photographs and maps of the trip. There is no shortage of books for any age reader on this topic. Read a portion of the story throughout the month. When you are finished, add the length of the journey to their ages and project what grade/month they would be in had they gone on the journey. Pick 3 foods, not necessarily their favorite, and ask if they could eat only those foods for that time frame? Could they sleep on the floor or outside in the winter for that long? Wear the same clothes for that long? The next time you ask them to endure something, remind them of Shackleton’s journey.

The Shackleton Expedition by Jil Fine

Shipwreck and Survival on a Sea of Ice by Matt White