Arviat - A special day held recently at Qitiqliq middle school in Arviat was totally for the birds - and the students loved every minute of it.

Levi Angmak elementary school students recently learned about the danger old fishnets can pose to Arviat's shorebirds from biologist Vicki Johnston. - photo courtesy of the Mikilaaq Centre

Shorebird biologist Vicki Johnston of the Canadian Wildlife Service in Yellowknife spent the day showing students the challenges that face shorebird populations.

The visit was a collaborative effort between Qitiqliq, Levi Angmak elementary, the Department of Sustainable Resources and the Mikilaaq Centre.

The presentation was part of a larger educational project called the Shorebirds Sister Schools program.

The program has become active in the United States after being started by the U.S.A. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Johnston became aware of the program through her colleagues in Alaska, a state with large shorebird populations and migrations.

The program has an entire teacher's curriculum and features online classroom collaborations for sister schools in Mexico, the U.S.A. and the Arctic breeding grounds to pair up.

Johnston said that allows students to monitor the progress of migration through different countries.

"There's a whole lot of really cool stuff involved with the program that I haven't had time to get into yet," said Johnston.

"The online classroom would be great for Arctic communities because it's a cool way for students to link up with kids on the southern parts of their birds' migration routes.

"They could be talking to a kid in Mexico while Arviat's semipalmated sandpipers are on the wintering ground.

"It's really a wonderful teaching tool."

Johnston said shorebirds migrate through Arviat and also nest there.

She said the birds are a wonderful part of the local landscape that kids should notice.

"The idea is to get them more interested in the variety of life around them.

"And, of course, there's also conservation.

"Populations are declining for most of the shorebirds that breed in the Arctic.

"The reasons that we know of are mostly on the migration and wintering grounds, but we're also very concerned that climate change will have a big impact on shorebirds that breed in the Arctic."

Johnston said shorebirds are a precious resource, and youth need to be aware that all is not wonderful for these birds.

She said one part of her presentation, Build the Shorebird, an interactive approach that shows kids the type of challenges birds face.

"We pick a student from the class and put them at the front of the room.

"Then, piece by piece, we turn that child into a shorebird and talk about how each piece helps the bird adapt into its environment.

"We call up more kids near the end so we can form little flocks and do things to mimic human disturbance, pollution and habitat loss.

"The kids tend to pay attention throughout the entire presentation because they're so involved in it."

Johnston said there's always a few kids in a class who have more experience on the land than the others.

She said it's interesting to hear those kids talk about seeing birds on the land, and what type of areas they always seem to be in.

"The kids always recognize, right away, the effect human activities can have on the birds.

"The Arviat kids were proud to tell me about the shoreline cleanup they did the previous spring to get rid of the old fishnets on the beach.

"This program really gets the kids to think about their place in the environment, and how what they do can impact other creatures.

"That works very well in keeping with the holistic view of Inuit culture."

Johnston said the kids often absorb program values into their overall character.

She said those types of results could bode well for future conservation efforts.

"I've done this with kids from Grade 2 to Grade 10 by adjusting the content to suit the age levels.

"The goal is to have children and young teens accept these values into their lives and look upon them as being normal.

"If they accept them as the right way to do things, you are set to have an aware and, hopefully, responsible adult citizenry in a few years."