'One foot in the bush … one foot in the city': New boat to open up land programming at Délı̨nę school

Students in Délı̨nę, N.W.T., have a new addition to the school to look forward to next year.

The Ehtseo Ayha School is getting a boat as part of its on-the-land programming.

The boat — a KingFisher — cost the school $118,000. The funds came from Jordan's Principle. For the application, the school needed five letters of support from the community.

The school is planning to build a cabin in September — they already have the materials — with the goal for the programming to be a regular part of the school curriculum.

Jason Dayman, the principal of Ehtseo Ayha School, said he hopes the boat gets more kids outside, and learning about culture.

"We want to get as many kids out experiencing the culture, the tradition … as we can," he said.

"I think it's a very important thing for our students. I think it's a very important thing for our community. And it's something that we're trying to do in our school here is getting our kids out learning from local elders and local people."

Dayman helped a school in Inuvik, N.W.T., get a boat years ago when he used to teach there. He said it was a game-changer for outdoor learning.

"It transformed what we were able to do. You no longer had to rely on finding a boat ... You had the boat, and you could program around what you want to do."

Dayman said the new boat will help provide culturally relevant programming at Ehtseo Ayha School. He hopes this will help kids to "see themselves in our school, as well as see their culture and see their language." 

There are plans to make a wooden map to be placed within the school of the Great Bear Lake and the traditional areas around it, he said. Every time the students go to an area, they'll put a pin on the wood map. 

"It's going to be like a legend in our school that we'll be able to share with our students," Dayman said.

"Our students are going to learn about one of the wonderful or one of the most wonderful resources we have in our community as well as in the Northwest Territories and in Canada."

Dayman said the opportunity for on the land learning allows northern students to have "one foot in the bush and one foot in the city."