Stikine offers practical classroom

for Petersburg/Wrangell students

Members of the Stikine River Jet Boat Association gave a tour of the Stikine River to fourth graders from both Wrangell’s Evergreen Elementary and Petersburg’s Rae C. Stedman Elementary School. This year’s trip marks the first time that Petersburg has been invited to explore the Stikine with students from Wrangell.

The trip has become a tradition for area fourth graders. According to Jim Leslie, Port Commission Chairman and captain of the Chutine Warrior, “we’ve done this for more than 10 years now. When this first started, we took every kid at the elementary school to make sure that everyone got to go. Now we just bring the fourth graders because it provides a lot more of a focused learning experience.”

Leslie indicated that the Stikine River Jet Boat Association plans to expand the opportunity to take the annual trip to communities outside of Wrangell. “This year we’re including Petersburg and we hope to bring along kids from Prince of Wales soon. It’s an outreach for the kids. The Stikine River Jet Boat Association members are all getting their boats in the water and getting ready for the season, so it’s a perfect time to take the kids out and test the boat as well.”

Jet boats from Alaska Waters, Breakaway Adventures, Alaska Charters and Adventures and Summit Charters all participated in the trip, rotating students from one of three learning stations.

Students at one station were challenged to build a shelter using a tarp, string, two oars and anything else they could find in the natural environment. John Yeager ran the crash course in shelter building and rescue procedure in remote areas. According to Yeager, “it’s about signaling and survival as well as building a shelter. We’ve done the signaling and survival section for the last three years. The Forest Service has come on board over the last few years to help us out with our program.”

Maria Burke and Denise Wolvin of the United States Forest Service led a walking wildlife scavenger hunt where students were tasked with identifying signs that can tell something about the environment and the dangers, or opportunities presented by the area.

Teacher Brian Merritt led a walking bird tour on the grass flats and identified several different species of local birds, including the great blue heron as well as the common sand piper. “We’re teaching the kids about the grass flats and all sorts of things about the river, cut banks, sandbars, sloughs and basically enjoying a nice day on the river. It’s just to educate the kids. We talk about it in the classroom, with migration, and this is really an extension of the classroom,” said Merritt.

Though the trip was a little late for the hooligan run this year, Vena Stough taught the students about the different fishing gear used to catch hooligan and let students handle fish as well as try a bit of the smoked hooligan.

At the same station, Virginia Oliver led a short presentation on Tlingit culture, including language for area wildlife, and stories passed down for generations. “I’m doing the Tlingit migration story. They stop off at my station and learn a little bit about Tlingit language,” said Oliver.

For many students, the trip was the first of many up river, and with sea lions, eagles and hooligan to see, the fourth-graders from Evergreen Elementary and Rae C. Stedman Elementary had no complaints with the long school day.