Paddle & Safety Lesson with Harbor City International Students on 5/22
The St. Louis River Alliance Water Trail Staff (Mikayla and Karen) recently led a full day with Duluth Harbor City International Students on Thursday May 22nd, as part of their senior symposium focused on environmental justice, and rights to nature.
We started out the day by gathering in a circle introducing ourselves, our pronouns, and talking about our experience around local waterways. Karen brought a cooler full of chilled river water to display how fast hypothermia will cause you to lose dexterity, and what that begins to feel like on bare skin. That was a fun, and interactive lesson we learned from UMD RSOP, thank you Melody!
Once we talked over our float plan for the day, and our bail out location (in case the wind changes) we got suited up in our PDF’s, grabbed our paddles and headed towards the dock at the marina to get the kayaks ready to launch. Before taking off on the St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail, Mikayla had all the students practice hands on paddle strokes, and on the water paddle signals. Karen and Mikayla reminded everyone of the rules of the nautical road since there are boaters, and fisherman also using the Water Trail before pushing everyone out onto the water.
We took a small lunch break at Munger Landing, where the students taught us about a few different macroinvertebrates species, dragon fly nymphs, and we observed frogs together in the pond. What a perfect pitstop! Other topics discussed included: Area of Concern work in the Estuary, manoomin seeding, history and ecology of the St. Louis River, St. Louis River Alliances goals/partnerships, and lastly allowed room for the students to ask questions.
After using some of the free time we had to paddle and explore the shoreline near the marina, we all loaded up the kayaks onto the trailer as a group, and came together one last time for the day before the bus arrived! We talked about what made us feel comfortable, what surprised us on the river, and what was our favorite thing to learn that day.
The students were very surprised with how consistently low the water level is on the river, and really enjoyed talking through concerns and safety topics with Karen and I before accessing the river. Being able to take everything they learned during their symposium and connect it all together through an environmental lens seemed like a great way to end the school year.
Thank you to Mr. Scott, and his students who made this event possible!
Lastly, Spirit Lake Marina provided rentals to be able to outfit every student, since SLRA only has 7 kayaks of their own. Check out their website to rent kayaks, canoes, pontoons, or even e-bikes this summer!
In wrapping up the day Karen asked students to share their thoughts on the experience and what stuck with them, and what surprised them. The responses were reflective and inspiring to hear. Here are some of the quotes after getting off the water!
“Learning about not just the water but the frogs, fish and birds too!”
“Surprised at how shallow the estuary is.”
“Felt the tippiness of the kayaks, nervous at first, but got more comfortable after a few minutes.”
“Surprised at how fast a kayak can go! Wobbly at first.”
“First time on the river… Really nice to experience and learn. Now it feels more real.”
“Enjoyed learning the scale of the river compared to a map.”
“Nervous going into the experience. Liked learning about the human history of the river too.”
“...more comfortable on the water than I used to feel.”
