A teacher from New Brunswick is hoping to give five graduating students in a small town on the edge of Baffin Island a chance they’ve never had before.
Heather McIsaac, who is originally from Florenceville, has spent four years teaching in the northern community of Clyde River.
She says having five students graduate from one class at Quluaq School is rare and she wants to reward them.
So she’s encouraged them to go even further — all the way from Nunavut to Europe.
“The students all year have been asking about opportunities to do a grad trip … we want to give them a trip to Europe to celebrate their successful completion of Grade 12,” McIsaac said.
Clyde River, Nunavut, is a two-hour flight from Iqaluit. It will cost $18,000 to fly from Clyde River to Ottawa, which is the first leg of the students’ graduation trip. (CBC)
On May 29, the students plan to catch a flight to Ottawa and then to London, where they also plan to visit Paris and Normandy.
The students are hoping to see the famous sights they have only read about or seen in movies.
None of the students have left the country and one has never seen a tree.
Katelyn Hainnu, a graduating student, described how important this trip will be in an online request for donations.
“We have been working hard to raise money to go on an amazing trip to London and Paris,” Hainnu wrote.
“I’ve only ever seen those places on TV. It will be a dream come true.”
It’s expensive for seven people to get from Baffin Island to Europe considering the flights to Ottawa alone will cost close to $18,000. The trip is expected to cost about $40,000.
“You can see why it’s really tough to give students opportunities to leave when the airfare just to get out of our community is so expensive,” McIsaac said.
The students have been raising money locally through bake sales and cake walks, but they’ve also started an online campaign. They have already raised more than $15,000.
The students must have $20,000 to the tour company by April 15 if the trip is going to move forward.
Money hasn’t been the only hurdle for this graduating class in a town that doesn’t even have a grocery store.
There isn’t anywhere in Clyde River to have passport photos taken, so they set up a makeshift studio with white sheets as a backdrop.
“We refuse to take no for an answer,” said McIsaac.
“What kind of message does it send if we say, ‘This is impossible?'”
