Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Chesterfield Inlet (Sep 14/05) - A kayak program launched four years ago at Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet is exceeding all expectations.

The four-phase program successfully completed Phase Three earlier this month when nine kayaks were launched by students in Chester.

The program was initiated by teacher Glen Brocklebank, and began with a handful of students designing and building cardboard kayaks to race on Police Lake.

Phase Two saw the students design and construct small model kayaks, which were covered in caribou and seal skins.

After mastering the model-building phase of the program, Brocklebank began to seek the necessary funding to design and construct full-size kayaks.

His proposal was accepted by the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth and he set about ordering the lumber and materials needed to begin Phase Three.

"Once the material arrived, we turned the gym into a huge wood shop and began production," says Brocklebank.

"The students chose their own groups to work together and we ended up making 10 kayaks."

Student interest became so high in the program that the class had perfect attendance during the seven school days of the building process.

Brocklebank says the students learned numerous skills, including proper measurement, physics and geometry principles, self-discipline, woodworking skills, team building and co-operation.

"The whole program was about co-operation and seeing the project through.

"Not only did we have perfect attendance, but many kids also stayed after school to work on the kayaks.

"The students really took ownership of the project."

The material came in too late to cover the kayaks last year.

So, immediately following the 2005 cardboard kayak race, school administrators allowed the students in Grade 9 to 12 to take over the gym to continue their work on the project.

It took the youth three days to sew the nylon material onto the frames.

It then took another three days to apply five coats of polyurethane to each kayak.

"Once that dried, we were ready to head to the lake and all the students were super pumped.

"We went on community radio to announce the occasion and we had a huge crowd come out for our official launch."

The community had also been invited to come to the gym and watch the students working on the kayaks.

Brocklebank says a number of parents and elders showed up to encourage the youth on.

He says an extra benefit developed when the parents starting to tell stories of their youth, riding around in kayaks with their parents and grandparents.

"There haven't been many kayaks in Chester for years, so it was cool to hear stories about them in the community.

"It really gave the kids a sense of pride to connect with their heritage like that.

When the big day finally arrived, the students were outfitted with wetsuits and life-jackets.

Their first task was to master a wet exit by flipping over their kayaks and learning how to exit them safely.

Once that skill was learned, the youth were set free to paddle around on their own.

Brocklebank says the entire program was a learning experience, which includes a slight design change for the next project.

"The first nine we built are pretty tipsy on the water, but the students quickly learned how to find their balance point and are improving their techniques.

"Many of them were tipping their kayaks at first, but they've progressed to the point where it's rare now."

Brocklebank says as exciting as Phase Three was, everyone is totally focused on next year's final stage - a seven-day expedition towards Baker Lake.

He says a few elders will take part in the trip, which will include paddling, camping on the land and trying to hunt from the kayaks.

"In a way, it will be like reintroducing the kayak to the way of life here.

"One student was in a kayak for about 45 minutes when he looked at me and said he felt like a real Inuk.

"That statement really summed up the feelings of most of the students towards this program."