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Special Report: Crossing the Straits

It all started months ago at Cherryland Middle School in Elk Rapids when two eighth grade students, Kadin Patterson and Gordie Lafontaine, had to come up with a community project for their international baccalaureate program.

They wanted to do something for the environment, like a beach cleanup.

That’s when their teacher, Mr. Morris, told them to think bigger.

Michelle Dunaway and chief photojournalist Corey Adkins bring us this Special Report: Crossing the Straits.

“I just got chills just pulling into the parking lot, seeing these kids and their dry suits zipping up then, and it was just awesome to hear them say ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this, we been training for months and we been talking all these people for months and it’s finally go time!’” says Mr. Morris.

Saturday, April 22, 2017: Earth Day. Three guys from the group Stand Up For Great Lakes, including teacher Kwin Morris, and two eighth grade students from Cherryland Middle School in Elk Rapids converge in St. Ignace to do something huge; to do something they believe in.

 “The fact that I have grown up with this in my backyard my whole life, it is something I need to protect for the future generations and even for us today,” explains Kadin.

Gordie says, “It’s really important to me because I’ve always grown up on the lakes, and you just learn to love them and you have to appreciate them every once in a while, and you have to realize that they are Great Lakes and you have to make sure they’re keeping great.”

So they set out on the adventure of a lifetime to cross the almost five mile Straits, something they’ve been training for since November.

“We paddled countless times and just in conditions like windy days, and then down rivers and in the cold and we leave and paddled in January and February,” says Kadin.

Mr. Morris says, “The Straits are something you don’t mess with. The currents they say exceed Niagara Falls. The waves, the winds are always strong here.”

Gordie adds, “Training has been pretty tough. Waking up every other morning at 5-3 days a week is pretty tough, and we have school after that, so it’s a pretty busy day and Mr. Morris has done a great job on preparing us”.

Mr. Morris say, “I told these guys the conditions you’re paddling in, nobody paddles in. I’m preparing you for the worse and they held up, so I feel confident in them going.”

The reason they are doing this is to raise awareness for Great Lakes issues, and as everyone knows, Enbridge’s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is a big one. But they also think it’s important to raise awareness without placing blame.

 “It’s great because you don’t really pick fights with people or don’t make people mad because you’re just spreading the awareness about it and letting them pick what they want to believe, and what they want to help, and just letting people know it is really the biggest thing,” explains Gordie.

Kadin adds, “I think that’s really important. We don’t want to be all positive and all negative because that Line 5, it provides power for millions of people and it’s dangerous having it maybe where it is, but it’s also the most tested pipeline that there is.”

Mr. Morris says, “We talked and we thought that stay out of the politics part of it and that’s just show as much as we can. Let’s get Enbridge and do interviews and get them talking, let’s get people opposed to it talking. Where are these facts coming from? Are they proven facts? Those type of things, and I think everybody, even Enbridge, can agree that a spill in this location would be the worst place in the world. It would be devastating for all the things that we love that were standing up for.”

Love is a powerful word, in a powerful place

With bridge workers looking on it’s time for a break! It’s time for a dip!

 “I mean, how many people have done that before? So I was like I got to take this opportunity, I gotta jump in. Every moment, you just got to savor it,” says Kadin.

Gordie says, “It was like you weren’t thinking, you were just here and then in the middle it was just awesome. We saw the bridge and it was just a very humbling experience.”

Crossing under the bridge, their goal in front of them.

“I was like, I technically just crossed Lake Michigan and Lake Huron in the same day,” says Kadin.

Principal Terry Star says, “I’m just so proud of their efforts and what they accomplished, and the fact that they took this risk.”

It’s a risk for an issue that they are humbled by.

 “This has shown me I can take on a lot more responsibilities than I thought I could. I’ve seen how many people that this is gotten onto, how many people it’s affected,” explains Kadin.

Gordie adds, “It’s going to be something you always remember and a story you’ll always be able to tell.”

Mr. Morris says, “That’s the best part of being a teacher is just inspiring them, but also caring about the things that are around. Aw man, I couldn’t be more proud.”

Kadin and Gordie raised more than $4,000 for the Stand Up For Great Lakes Foundation.

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