Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

CHESTERFIELD INLET - Students at Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet learned a valuable lesson on the land earlier this month - even if it wasn't the one intended.

The students and their teacher escorts left with elder Joe Issaluk to spend a day hunting caribou and maybe catching a few fish.

Unfortunately, neither the caribou nor the fish were in any mood to co-operate.

Teacher Glen Brocklebank said a number of students were preparing to go out on the land with their parents, so the group wasn't as large as those of past trips.

He said those who did make the trip, however, were an eager bunch of learners.

"The caribou weren't where we expected them to be, so we dropped the jigs and did a bit of fishing, but we came up empty at that too," said Brocklebank.

"Even though we caught no fish or caribou, we still had an incredible day.

"The students learned a lesson in life in that you don't always catch something when you go out on the land.

"It was a bit of a humbling experience for us, but, then again, you shouldn't expect to get something every time you go out."

Never one short on resourcefulness, Brocklebank quickly put Plan B into action when the fish and tuktu managed to elude the group.

The youth had been doing a unit on glaciation and Arctic char in school.

So, Brocklebank had the group stop to take a closer look at glacial features on the land.

He had the students identify which way the glaciers were travelling, based on the patterns of lakes and other features, and then point out some erratics and other glacial imprints.

"We talked about the forces of glaciers while we were out there, and how they acted to alter the landscape.

"We also looked at areas with raised beaches to see where the land is rebounding and getting higher, which the kids thought was pretty cool.

"It's a lot of fun for students and teachers any time we get the chance to leave the classroom and get out on the land in Chester."