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Sleds in time for summer

Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Inuvik (July 02/04) - When Michael Fehr goes sledding next winter, he'll be able to do it on one of his own creations.

The Grade 4 student at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school in Inuvik was one of 26 kids who built their own winter sleds -- with a little help from homeroom teacher Jason Dayman.

"It was a lot fun," said Fehr of the construction process, which involved the real world application of classroom principles like mathematics.

"It was important to give the kids some hands-on experience with things like measurements and mathematics," said Dayman, who also doubled as a carpenter for the project.

"It's also fun for the kids to get their noses out of the textbook."

The students in Dayman's class started working on the sleds in February. They began by measuring and marking off the wood before Dayman started slicing and dicing with the school's power tools.

Eventually, several piles of two by four had become a sleek downhill racer, complete with plastic runners to help the sled slide across the snow.

Dayman said each sled took about 12 hours to complete and even though they weren't finished in time for the sledding season, the kids will make good use of them next year.

"It was a fun activity and the kids learned a lot. It's also nice that they have something to show for it."

Fehr agreed. "The project helped teach us a lot about math, which was good," he said.

But most importantly, Fehr said he was looking forward to sledding next year.

"That's going to be the best part," he said.