Stillwater Students Learn The Art Of Canoe Building
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- St. Croix Valley Area Learning Center is an alternative school; a place where teenagers who have struggled in traditional classrooms find success in a smaller setting with non-traditional approaches.
The school invited a nonprofit called Urban Boatbuilders over the winter to come in and teach students how to construct a canoe.
"At this point in the construction process, it's pretty easy to tell this is a canoe. It's really taken form," said Matt Eklund, an instructor with Urban Boatbuilders. "But in the beginning it starts off as a big pile of sticks, and it's really hard to wrap your head around what it will look like."
Eklund says confusion soon gives way to curiosity, and eventually confidence.
"From day one it's just about getting their hands touching something," Eklund said.
The students do all the work, and learn about science and art.
"It's applied math skills. So learning how to figure out fractions and ratios for bends of different ribs," Eklund said.
Twelfth-grader Racquel Ruiz did the stitching on the seats. She told us what she is learning in this unique class.
"Working with people," Ruiz said. "A lot of these people I never really talk to, but working with them on the boat, I've gotten closer and learned more about teamwork."
Urban Boatbuilders has built more than 250 boats while working with kids in the last 20 years.
"When it's done, when they've put it in the water, I think they're going to have a lot of pride in what they've accomplished," Eklund said.
The students will test the canoe in the St. Croix River, and then it will be auctioned off by the Stillwater Sunrise Rotary Club, which sponsored the project.
Money from the sale will go towards buying materials to build another 17-foot canoe.
Urban Boatbuilders works with school districts and youth programs across the Twin Cities. Click here for more information.