No cellphones and no way off a ship for five days? No problem for Canmore students who attended the ultimate field trip in October.
Canmore Collegiate High School (CCHS) trainees (students and teachers) boarded the Pacific Swift, a massive traditional tall ship, from Oct. 4-9 to engage in a unique leadership program while earning school credits.
Participants set sail from Victoria, B.C. as part of the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS) program. It mixes education, teamwork and youth leadership development on a traditional tall ship and allows trainees to earn their junior, intermediate and senior sailing certificates.
Since 2010, CCHS has been part of 10 voyages with SALTS, with roughly 30 students attending each. Six SALTS crewmembers educate trainees on various routines and teach the ins and outs about different parts of the ship.
“When the kids are on the boat they’re also working on courses, so they actually have to write a test and they have oral tests,” said Shannon Amey, CCHS teacher and one of the organizers. “On the second last day there’s an examination to see if they achieve the junior certificate.”
Amey and fellow teacher/organizer Hans Holthuis said many trainees are able to get their certificate in the five-day trip, although it is challenging.
“Our kids will get some high school credits that we’ve organized here for the work that they’re doing,” Holthuis said.
The teachers say a neat aspect of the trip is that they learn and are involved in daily operations side by side with students throughout the trip.
“That’s certainly something that we make a point of,” said Holthuis.
Daily routines include raising and lowering sails, navigation, anchor watch at night, and even steering the ship. In addition to ongoing training, formal sailing lessons are taught on topics such as knots, chartwork, rules of the road and points of sail.
For some students, the trip was a brand new experience of living in close quarters and becoming educated about on-ship duties. For others, like Grade 10 student Ben Hames, returning for a second trip was a chance to improve upon his certificates and be amazed all over again.
Grade 10 students Roxanne Anderson and Caitlyn Belik were new to CCHS this semester and were able to build new bonds with fellow students. A week of hard work is part of the expedition, but the trip isn’t without its fun either. The students all say it brings everyone together as they become more of an interknit community.
