Chester beats the winter blues
Students enjoy first afternoon of outdoor activities
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, May 21, 2014
CHESTERFIELD INLET
The majority of students at Victor Sammurtok School in Chesterfield Inlet found themselves hooked on an extracurricular activity earlier this month.
The elementary teachers came up with the idea of holding a fishing derby for the younger students, and the idea quickly caught on with the entire school.
Teacher Glen Brocklebank said this was the first time the school held a fishing event in a number of years.
He said about 65 to 70 kids made up the two bus loads of students to travel out to First Lake for an afternoon of fishing and other outdoor activities.
"The hamlet ploughed the road to First Lake for us, and the Grade 11 and 12 students went out the day before to drill all the holes," said Brocklebank.
"I've only caught one fish in Nunavut in 13 years, so I didn't go out there expecting to catch anything.
"But we had a couple of soccer balls, a parachute and Frisbee with us, so there was lots of activities on the go.
"Fishing was the original idea, but the trip turned into a school day-type of experience, and the students all said they had a lot of fun."
Student support assistant Donna Sammurtok was the only one among the group to land a fish.
Brocklebank said one class made bannock to take on the trip, and the Grade 5 to 6 class made sandwiches for everyone.
He said the Grade 11 and 12 students worked hard to drill the holes, as the ice on First Lake is still quite thick.
"It was a little cool out there for this time of year, and the sun wasn't out, but no one seemed to mind too much.
"In fact, it was the first event we've held outside of the school for everyone so far this year.
"It was about -40 C in Chester every day this winter from Remembrance Day until the end of April.
"So, with the weather being so cold, everyone was really itching for some time outside, and the elementary side of our school deserves a lot of credit for doing the bulk of the work for our afternoon of
fishing and games."
