With 1,000-Mile Canoe Trip, Brooklyn Park Teacher Fundraises for Students

A Brooklyn Park teacher is going the extra mile for his students.

Actually, he’s going an extra 1,000 miles down one of the nation’s great rivers.

“So that’s my personal challenge, and that I’m looking forward to as my own physical challenge,” Tyler Sassaman told CCX News ahead of his trek down the Mississippi. “Putting in at the headwaters in Lake Itasca and paddling all the way down. It goes north—that’s why I did that. The Mississippi goes north to Bemidji. And then it comes down to Hannibal, Missouri, is the goal.”

Although he’s been a a paddler for decades, this downriver venture will be the longest canoe trip he’s ever embarked upon.

Sassaman is a reading specialist at Prairie Seeds Academy, a Hmong-focused but diverse charter school in Brooklyn Park.

He’s using the trip to raise funds for his students, giving them a chance to experience nature. Sassaman plans to start the trip, which has a GoFundMe campaign called Paddling for a Purpose: The Mississippi 1000, on June 19, during his summer break. 

It’s his first time raising money for a cause.

“At the beginning, I would say there was at least a month where I didn’t really hear much,” he said. “I sent it out to close friends and family and everybody was really supportive. But I didn’t know what to expect.”

He launched the campaign with a goal of raising $20,000.

So far, he’s up to $14,000.

“It’s gone gangbusters,” Sassaman said.

Through Prairie Seeds, the funds will sponsor students taking outdoor education field trips and longer journeys into the Boundary Waters.

Tyler Sassaman carries a canoe. He’s embarking on a 1,000 mile canoe trip down the Mississippi River to raise funds for students.

Sassaman got his start canoeing during a “life-changing” period in Boundary Waters Canoe Area with Outward Bound, where he became an instructor.

He wants to bring that rugged outdoor experience to his students.

“In terms of the challenge of the wilderness, it’s pretty new for a lot of kids,” he said. “And so an overnight in the wilderness, it’s got a little bit of scary, it’s got a little bit of cool. It’s a mix of those things, so it’s pretty new.”

Sassaman also wants to help students process the challenges that came with the Operation Metro Surge immigration crackdown. 

He said it was a tough period for many of his students. The restorative aspects of nature could offer students a chance to recharge, said Sassaman.

“Ultimately, I would like to offer the opportunity for reflection, for some emotional healing, connection to their peers,” he said. “You know, in a wilderness setting, you’re laughing, you’ve got challenge and these sorts of things. So I think the key word would be, kind of ‘healing.'”

Brooklyn Park