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Four Local Students Treated For Hypothermia

AM800-NEWS-DAVE-PENNER-CTV-1.3804289 AM800-NEWS-DAVE-PENNER-CTV (Massey Teacher Dave Penner speaks to CTV Windsor, May 7, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Bob Bellacicco/CTV Windor))

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They ended up in Lake Simcoe after their canoes capsized during a school trip

Some scary moments for some local students on a leadership retreat.

Four Windsor-Essex students were taken to hospital and treated for minor hypothermia after their canoes capsized on Lake Simcoe.

The students from Vincent Massey and Tecumseh Vista Academy were in canoes that flipped as a wind storm blew through the region.

Massey teacher Dave Penner tells CTV Windsor,  they didn't see it coming. "In the first boat that capsized, they didn't experience a capsize because of waves, they experienced it directly because of wind and it was actually our most experienced canoers in the canoe that capsized first," says Penner.

In all, 18 students had to be pulled out of the water.

"The students' ability to stay calm is what resulted in a quick resolution," says Penner. "Everybody within a few hours was back at camp, singing, dancing, listening to a guest speaker and having a great time."

Two of the 18 rescued were workers at a youth leadership camp while 16 were students from the Greater Essex County District School Board.

About 300 students from four public board schools were on the trip.