The expedition conducted a live satellite telecast from Mount Everest base camp on Monday April 11, 8:15 p.m, to students at R. Tait McKenzie Public School in Almonte. (This was 6:00 a.m. April 12 Nepal time).

The live satellite telecast from Mount Everest base camp lasted about 30 minutes and included:

- a discussion between the expedition leader, Dr Sean Egan and the students at R.Tait Mackenzie School. Dr Egan connected his message of wellness, fitness, setting a goal, making a plan, working as a team with a connection to the philosophy of R. Tait McKenzie - to inspire all people to achieve their best through overall health of mind, body and spirit

- a tour of base camp

- an overview of Kanatek's task in collecting the research data on site, sending it to Canada via satellite, and saving the data in Ottawa

- discussion about the fun of the adventure, including the world's highest hockey game, played by expedition members on the Khumbu glacier

The telecast included questions from R. Tait students, and other participating RAC YEP schools across the country by amateur radio.

Karyn Frew, photographer

Technology

The expedition at base camp on Mount Everest called the Kanatek office in Canada via satellite phone and set up the video conference.  The audio and video sections were split at Kanatek's office in Kanata, Ontario.  The audio was directed into Kanatek's telephone conference bridge. The Halifax team connected to the Kanatek teleconference and routed the audio through the internet to the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) reflector in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  Participating schools across the country connected to the Saskatoon reflector by amateur radio through their local IRLP nodes.  The event operator in Halifax enabled the switching needed to steer the conversation back and forth between the expedition on Mount Everest and the schools taking part. 

Other schools

With the approval of Industry Canada, we were able to have schools across Canada taking part in this special contact by amateur radio through the IRLP, a unique Canadian invention.  5 schools, from coast to coast, took part in this first ever national amateur radio connection to link students across Canada with an expedition on Mount Everest.

The creative force behind the Everest school project was Neil Carleton, a Grade 6 Classroom Teacher at R. Tait McKenzie Public School, Almonte.

Grand Manan Community School, Grand Manan, New Brunswick
Walter Murray Collegiate Institute, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Chestermere Lake Middle School, Chestermere, Alberta
Drinkwater Elementary School, Duncan, British Columbia

Sir John A. MacDonald High School, Halifax, Nova Scotia