A group of Westgate inmates are helping to keep a beloved Bermuda Easter tradition alive, by teaching students how to make kites.The Royal Gazette visited Victor Scott Primary School where Westgate Correctional Facility inmates demonstrated kite-making to students this week.The demonstration was given by inmates Teiko Furbert and LeShaun Scott.Furbert, who is serving a life sentence in Westgate, started the Kites-R-Us programme six years ago with other inmates. Kites-R-Us gives kite-making demonstrations at various schools and sells homemade kites to raise money for charity.On this day, the inmates brought several homemade kites, singer Bob Marley and cartoon characters such as Tweety Bird and Dora and Diego were prominent in the designs.The students also received kite-making handbooks that included step-by-step instructions on how to make a kite and also safety tips such as “don’t fly your kite near power lines”, and “wear sunshades when flying your kite to protect your eyes”.Furbert went through the basic designs of a Bermuda kite. He said the typical one is done in an ‘H’ formation, but there is also a diamond-shaped kite. Scott, who served as his assistant, held up various bits of necessary equipment a hammer, hacksaw and string.Furbert held up one tool and said: “You also need a pair of pliers, but these aren’t actually pliers. I was in a hurry and picked up the wrong tool on the way out, but you get the idea.”Eager students were bought up to the front to help demonstrate different skills such as patching and stringing. One skill they were very eager to learn was how to make the hummer part of the kite.The hummer, which makes a humming sound when it is flying, is made by folding and cutting a piece of paper in a certain way. Apparently, if you want a higher pitched sound, you make the piece of paper for the hummer thinner. This was the one step in kite-making that the students could later recite back, word for word.“Alright who wants to win a kite?” Furbert asked the students. The reply was a deafening chorus: “We do!”There was no lack of enthusiasm from the Victor Scott students. It was clear they loved kites.The format was that Furbert first told them about making kites, and then quizzed them on what he had said. Those who got the question right received a kite of their choosing.The boys showed more familiarity with the kite-making process. Only three girls put up their hand when asked who had ever patched a kite before but they caught on quickly. In fact, it was a girl who won the first kite. She picked one with a Bob Marley design.The most difficult question seemed to be naming all the items that were needed for making a kite. More than one student lost the quiz for want of a nail.Several kites were given away to the children, but naturally, not everyone could win. Some children took it diplomatically, while other students were disappointed, with tears amongst a few of the youngest students.So, in some ways, the demonstration provided one of those old life lessons, you can’t be a winner every day.The good news for those who didn’t win a kite? You can always purchase one. Kites made by Westgate inmates are now on sale at Trimingham Hill. The money goes to various charities.Deputy head principal Chevonne Furbert said it was the first time that Westgate held a kite demonstration at Victor Scott Primary.“The students were very receptive,” she said. “We try to bring people from the community in to expose them to things like good kite making. I learned myself as a kid, but haven’t made one since.”