OTISFIELD – Students at Otisfield Community School will soon be able to venture beyond the gymnasium and playground for their physical education class. Enriched by a grant from Ellen Solms in memory of her brother Max William Beck, gym class now includes kayaking.

Physical education teacher Barbara Dunham used the $6,000 grant to purchase 24 kayaks, paddles and personal flotation devices.

“We’re really thrilled. We feel very fortunate,” she said. “Somebody valued fitness and wellness.”

Dunham, who teaches kayaking at L.L. Bean during her summer vacations, said that “it will be easy for (the students) to learn” to power the boats. Dunham hopes that as many people as possible will benefit from the school’s kayaks. In May, she will offer an adult education course so people can learn basic paddling strokes and safety and enjoy Pleasant Lake in Otisfield. She also plans to include the kayaks in a staff wellness program at the school.

Sixth-grade teacher Ruth Wilson sees even more possibilities for the kayaks. She plans to take her students out on Pleasant Lake to take water samples and study erosion along the shore.

“A lot of the kids have never been out on a boat,” she said. She’s looking forward to giving them a chance to “see the shore from a different angle.”

Wilson hopes to include the kayaks in Environmental Education Day, an event that six area elementary schools participated in last year. She points out that many cross-curriculum activities can be inspired by the kayaks. “They can write about them, draw them, do science,” she said.