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Grants in Action
Class Builds Canoe, Craftsmanship, and Confidence
By Monica Parker-James
For most of us, images of high school include pop quizzes and long essays. Lunch in a noisy cafeteria. Jammed lockers. Homework. But for a group of students at Westwood High School, the typical school day is anything but typical.
Westwood High School’s flex program is designed for students with unique academic and social needs. This year, these students are spending part of each school week building a canoe. Through this innovative project, they are building skills and self-confidence along the way.
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The project is the brain child of flex teacher Paul Houston. He and school psychologist Todd Danforth saw canoe building as a perfect fit for the students’ experiential learning class. With funds from Westwood High, they took a course in canoe-building at the Northwoods Canoe Company in Atkinson, Maine last April. A $5, 800 grant from the Westwood Educational Foundation allowed Houston to get further instruction and purchase materials to bring the program to Westwood High’s flex students. |
The program teaches students to make a hand-crafted canoe of wood and canvas construction. Building the canoe is a painstaking process involving a series of steps that must be carried out precisely. Students build the hull of the canoe over a form that Houston made during a WEF-funded course. The hull is constructed of many different components, including ribs, planking, rails, decks, thwarts, and seats. The completed hull is treated with oils and preservatives, then covered with canvas and filled with a special filler. The canoe is then sanded, varnished, and painted with high-quality marine enamel.
“We trust our teachers and know that they’ve taught us to build it well,” said WHS senior Jayson Clancy, who works on the canoe as often as possible. Clancy and the other seniors on the project will be given the first opportunity to paddle the canoe on water this spring, when it is expected to be completed. |
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For Ryan Landry, canoe building has become a passion. “On the weekends, I think about coming back to school to work on it. I try to stay after school as much as possible, too,” Landry said.
The project gives flex students an immense feeling of accomplishment, with good reason. Even unfinished, it is plain to see that the canoe is a work of impeccable craftsmanship.
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“I like to see the progress,” said student John Campbell. “Every day there’s something new.”
The form used to build the canoe may be reused with future classes. In addition, Houston plans to auction off a completed canoe in order to generate funds to continue the project in years to come, allowing other groups of students to experience the pride evident among this year’s builders.
“It takes a long time, but it’s good to see what we’ve accomplished,” said Clancy. |
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