Chesterfield Inlet (May 21/03) - A group of Chesterfield Inlet students can't wait to see if their teacher's idea floats.

Glen Brocklebank has always had a keen interest in kayaking.

So, the Victor Sammurtok school teacher became excited when he heard the Dept. of Education had developed a career and technology study course based on making model kayaks.

He was able to get a copy of the pilot project and, after getting an enthusiastic thumbs up from his students, he informed the department his school wanted to take part.

"We started learning about kayaks -- their shapes, designs and features -- and how an ocean kayak differs from what you would find, say, in Baker Lake," says Brocklebank.

"From there, we looked at different techniques and materials we'd need and placed our order."

The would-be kayak builders didn't sit around on their work benches waiting for the material to arrive.

Instead, they used what they had learned from their research to hold Chester's first annual cardboard kayak race.

Once the material arrived, they got busy on the real thing.

"We had some growing pains trying to figure out the right technique to bend the wood and, basically, make it do what we wanted.

"But, we finally figured it out."

Lady Luck stepped in with a helping hand when elder Joe Issaluk bagged a caribou during a school field trip.

"We were shown how to remove the fur so we just had the skin left.

"Then we learned how to properly treat the skin and sew it onto the kayak.

"We have two kayaks finished and they look beautiful.

"We'll have nine done when we're finished."

Brocklebank says the group started with small kayaks, about one-metre long, before they move up to bigger ones next year.

A total of eight students from Grades 11 and 12 took part in the program.

"The students get academic credits for this as a career-and-technology course.

"They will go towards their Grade 12 diploma under unspecified credits.

"Students need 27 unspecified credits to graduate and they're getting two of those 27 out of this course."