Pink Shirt Day 2025 & Parents Night Parade

“Pink Shirt Day [PSD] is an annual event against bullying held in Canada [&] New Zealand.  Participants wear pink shirts […] and raise awareness about bullying, particularly in schools.”  PSD began in 2007 in Canada and is held on the last Wednesday of February.  Bullying is a worldwide problem and not unique to Nunavut.  It would be nice if bullying never existed, but life isn’t fair.  Thankfully, efforts are being made to eliminate it.  It’s alright to have disagreements but resorting to bullying / harassment is taking matters way too far.

PSD fell on February 26 this year.  Ant-bullying activities were held in classes for the day, and everyone was encouraged to wear pink.  The only pink item I own is a tie.  Maybe I should invest in a pink shirt next year?  The day culminated in an afternoon school photo in the gym.  All staff & students assembled in the gym wearing pink clothing.  I recruited a parent to take several photos with my camera.  Unfortunately, I can’t post the best photo here because I don’t have written permission from everyone.  Sorry.  A high school student pointed out that I was wearing the same getup as last year.  I guess I really do need to get more pink clothing for next year.

3045 Army Cadets held a Parents Night Parade on the evening of February 26.  The cadets and I arrived at the school gym an hour early to set everything up.  Doors opened at 6:15pm and the parade began at 6:30pm.  The reviewing officer was the Executive Director of Qikiqtani School Operations (QSO).  QSO is one of three Nunavut school boards, and the Executive Director (ED) is the boss.  He’s higher than the superintendents.  He was visiting Inuujaq School for a week and I managed to convince him to volunteer his time to participate.

I marched into the gym with the ED.  He inspected the cadets on parade after the General Salute & playing of O Canada.  I read his introduction to the audience during the inspection.  The cadets then did a March Past.  The cadet parade commander invited the ED to say a few words and assist in handing out awards.  He thanked the corps for inviting him to the parade and for putting on a good show.  He also thanked the parents & guardians in the audience for supporting their children and the corps.

Marksmanship Team.

The first badge awarded was the Level 4 Marksmanship badge, the highest level in the cadet program.  One junior cadet received the badge.  I then called up the marksmanship team to make an important announcement.  The results of the Stage 2 competition in January had recently been posted and 3045 came in first place in the Arctic Zone!  The team will be advancing to the Stage 3 Regional competition in late March (more on this in future posts).  The audience applauded the achievement and announcement.         

The cadet chief warrant officer (CWO) was called to the front to be publicly recognized for their recent participation in the inaugural Avannaa Arctic Games in Ilulisaat, Greenland.  Around 70 athletes from Greenland, Nunavut, Alaska, and Nunavik, “competed in more than a dozen events between February 8 & 13.”  Nunavut won 26 medals.  The CWO received a military themed t-shirt.

The Canadian Cadet Program is for youth, aged 12 – 18.  You age out or “retire” on your 19^th birthday.  Two of my senior cadets were nearing retirement so I called them to the front to congratulate them for going through the entire program and for all they achievements.  I also gifted them two framed photographs of them as cadets.  They would age out before the Annual Ceremonial Review Parade in May.

The last part of the awards section was promotions.  Three cadets were promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, and one cadet was promoted to the senior rank of Master Warrant Officer.

The finished the parade by doing an Advance In Review Order and General Salute.  God Save The King was played.  I escorted the ED out of the gym.  The parade came to an end.

The cadets & I had a group photo taken.  The cadets were then dismissed to the reception table.  Reception lasted 30 minutes.  The cadets & I spent about 20 minutes cleaning up & putting everything away.  I held a quick debriefing with the cadets after cleanup to go over upcoming activities on the weekend.  The cadets were then dismissed for the night.

Fighting Evil – 3 Years Later

Well, here we are.  Three years later and the war against Evil continues with no end in sight.  The war in Ukraine could have ended already if NATO had thrown its entire might & weight against the orcs, but instead they decided to cave to fear and hand aid to Ukraine & its armed forces in piece meal.  Things were starting to turn around in Ukraine’s favour when it became clear the orc overlord’s threats of nuclear annihilation turned out to be exaggerated bluffs and his military is not as great as he thinks it is.  Unfortunately, it seems the tide has turned against Ukraine & the Free World again due to the recent change of leadership in the United States in late January.  This reminds me of the year 1917 when Germany successfully took Russia out of World War I by fostering a communist revolution with the help of Vladimir Lenin.  Now it’s Russia taking out the USA by putting in a convicted felon in the White House.

It appears Ukraine’s Kursk Campaign is entering its final stages.  The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), despite valiant efforts, have been forced to withdraw closer to the Ukrainian border due to overwhelming orc & North Korean forces.  An unfortunate turn of events, I’ll admit, but it’s not like they’re defending their own land.  One of the main reasons behind the incursion was to divert orc forces from other battlefields, thus taking the pressure off UAF forces in those areas.  I’m still surprised the incursion lasted this long.  I originally thought it would be a cross-border raid, but the UAF managed to hold on for 8 months!  The Kursk Campaign will most likely be seen as a costly failure for Ukraine, but I think the operation was necessary to raise morale, bleed the orcs of resources & manpower, and show the world that Ukraine is not out of the fight. 

Drone & missile attacks have increased on both sides.  Every day there’s a news story of drones & missiles striking deep into Ukraine & Russia.  Ukraine needs more weapons systems to protect its soldiers & civilians from these deadly threats.  It would also be a huge help for Ukraine to receive longer range cruise missiles, like Tomahawks, to strike weapons factories & military infrastructure deep in Russia.  If NATO won’t do it, let Ukraine do it.  NATO really needs to increase weapons & ammunition production.  Unless something drastic happens, it’s only a matter of time before NATO becomes directly involved in the conflict.

It’s still beyond belief there are countries that still support the orcs.  Iran, North Korea, Belarus, and even Hungary.  They’re puppet states, taking orders directly from the Kremlin.  Brainwashing is still effective, unfortunately.  It’s making itself well-known in the United States.

The returning US president and his cronies are clearly brainwashed & out of touch.  They genuinely think it’s better to negotiate with Evil now than to give Ukraine all it needs to defeat the orcs.  The fact they think letting Russia keep the occupied lands will lead to everlasting peace is beyond me.  Hitler is rolling in his grave wishing Trump was president when he was alive.  Freezing the battle lines will not end the war.  It’ll only give the orcs time to rebuild, rearm, and continue their conquest.  The Russian bear must be beaten back to the pre-2014 border lines. 

I originally wanted to publish this post earlier, but I decided to wait until after the highly anticipated meeting between Ukrainian President Zelensky & USA President Donald Trump at the White House on February 28.  Well, that meeting didn’t go well.  The only sane person in attendance was Zelensky.  He kept his cool & stuck to the facts.  He was correct in his assertion that if Russia isn’t stopped now, USA & NATO will regret it later.  Trump & Vance, on the other hand, behaved irrationally, criticizing Zelensky on everything, from not wearing a suit, to not being thankful for all the aid the USA has provided up until then.  They said more ridiculous things that I won’t bother mentioning here because it’s a waste of time.

You know Trump & Vance, when 9/11 happened, many countries helped the USA, and NOT ONCE did they demand a public thank you from America.  You two should be thankful for that help.

Trump can state he wants peace & avoid World War III all he wants, but that’s not the real reason.  He just wants a Nobel Peace Prize, an extra accolade he can boast on his resume.  He’s jealous of Barack Obama.  Stopping the war now will not stop the war.  It’ll only pause it until Pootin decides to go on the war path.  He has proven many times that he cannot be trusted and he will not stop until all of Ukraine is under occupation.  If he succeeds, he’ll target other countries that were part of the Soviet Union.  I’m looking at Latvia, Estonia, & Lithuania. 

Trump does not think militarily.  He’s a businessman and only thinks in business deals.  He doesn’t mind Russia keeping the occupied Ukrainian lands because he probably sees it as a hostile takeover and hostile takeovers are the norm in the business world.  The American people better hope Russia doesn’t invade USA while Trump is still president.  He’ll probably cut a deal with Pootin and let him keep the occupied American lands.  Hopefully Trump & his cronies will see the error of their ways fast and get back to supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom. 

Getting back on track, it looks like Western Europe still supports Ukraine and is willing to continue providing military & financial aid.  Well, not completely, because they’re still hesitant to release all the frozen Russian money for Ukraine to use.  To quote Nike, “Just do it!”  Do it before it’s too late.  Also, keep providing much needed military training to the UAF.  They’re suffering a manpower shortage and new recruits need as much training as possible to feel confident and prepared to face the orcs.  Without it, there will be many more cases of desertion.    

Slava Ukraini!         

       

Hibernal Nanuq & Return Of The Sun

A cadet instructor cadre (CIC) officer from Whitehorse travelled to Arctic Bay to run a weekend training activity for the army cadets of 3045.  The activity was given the name Hibernal Nanuq and occurred on February 15 & 16.

The activity began in the afternoon in the school gym and featured sports & drill.  The captain led the activities, and I assisted.  The focus was teamwork, problem solving, and having fun.  There’s not much else for me to say for this part of the training activity.  The cadets did have fun.

The next day began in the early morning with marksmanship.  The cadets shot Daisy air rifles in the gym.  Their paper targets were placed on custom made backboards that also stopped lead pellets from hitting the gym wall.  The corps runs an active weekend marksmanship program.

Lunch was provided & delivered by the local hotel.  Thank you!  The menu was quite delicious.

The captain led the cadets in a team building activity called the Tallest Paper Tower Challenge.  Cadets work in groups to build the largest paper tower using limited materials & time.  This activity encourages teamwork, creativity, problem solving, and time management.  I stood back and took photos of their creations.  The winning group received bragging rights.

The captain & cadets had another drill session/lesson, followed by another game.  The cadets were given a short break before returning to the gym for the final activity: the canon obstacle course race.  This game is based on military field gun competitions where teams must transport a field gun through an obstacle course in shortest time possible.  The gun can be disassembled during the relay but needs to be in one piece at the finish line.  You can view an example here on YouTube.

The captain made two makeshift cannons & obstacle courses using sports equipment.  The cadets were divided into two teams and learned the rules.  I watched from above when the race began.  It was quite interesting to see the cadets quickly figured out ways to move their “cannons” through the obstacle course in pieces.

I took a photo of the captain & cadets.  I gifted him a corps t-shirt as a way of saying thank you for coming to Arctic Bay to meet & train the cadets.  He returned to Whitehorse the next day.

The sun returned to Arctic Bay in early February.  Inuujaq School usually organizes a Return of the Sun Assembly at the same time, but circumstances forced us to postpone the event until February 21.  Classes made decorations and wore bright colours to school.

The assembly began in the afternoon with a short welcome address by the principal.  This was followed by an Elder lighting the school’s ceremonial qulliq (oil lamp).  The qulliq is a very important tool & cultural piece to Inuit, especially during dark, cold winter months, because it provides light & warmth.  The Elder explained this to the audience and shared a story of how the qulliq kept her & her family warm when she was growing up and how it brings people together.

The Grade 1 class sang You Are My Sunshine in Inuktitut & English.  Two high school teachers performed an Inuit song.  One teacher sang while the other played the Inuit drum.  A few students were given the opportunity to play the Inuit drum to the delight of the audience.  The assembly concluded with an Inuit drum dance from a community member.

Everyone in the community is glad the sun has returned.  The temperature is still cold until April but at least there’s light.  People just have to remember to wear sunglasses to avoid snow blindness and put on sunscreen to prevent sunburn.

 

Chinese New Year & PD Week

Ox Tail.

Inuujaq School staff assembled in the Home Ec Room for an afternoon get together on Friday, November 7.  We were celebrating the end of the school week, the beginning of Professional Development (PD) Week, and Chinese New Year (CNY).  (The actual day for CNY was January 29, but that was a Sunday).

CNY “marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar” and is “also known as the Spring Festival”.  This year, 2025, is the year of the Snake.  A person with a snake zodiac is described as “mysterious, determined, wise, and charismatic.”  In case you’re wondering, my Chinese zodiac sign is not a snake.

The teachers from China & Jamaica prepared a potluck for staff.  Some of the menu items were jerk chicken, curry chicken, ox tail, fried dumplings, potato salad, and rice.  An Elder blessed the food and then everyone lined up with plates & cutlery.  The food was delicious.

PD Week in Nunavut is where teachers do professional development to expand & improve their knowledge & skills teaching pedagogy.  This can be done through online courses, workshops, conventions, & collaborations.  Students enjoy a free week off school.  All communities except for Rankin Inlet hold their PD Week in mid-February.  Rankin Inlet’s PD Week is in October.

I travelled to Iqaluit to complete a course in educational leadership.  It’s one of several courses attached to a leadership program designed for educators wanting to be administrators in Nunavut.  Completing the program is required to becoming a school principal.  Teachers & administrators from other schools were present.

The course took place in a small conference room at the Frobisher Inn, and it was also the hotel where all the participates stayed.  We would find out later in the week how important that was.  There were two instructors and around 14 participants including myself.  Classes began in the morning and ended in the afternoon.  They consisted of presentations, video clips, group discussions, and reading articles.  We were required to complete written assignments and a project.  The hotel was hired as caterer, providing breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks.  The quality of food was pretty good.  I did stop by Yummy Shawarma twice during the week for dinner.

A blizzard roared through Iqaluit on February 12, bringing the town to a standstill.  We were able to continue the course in the morning, but the instructors had to end early in the afternoon because the power grid became affected.  The hotel & surrounding neighbourhood experienced rolling blackouts.  The instructors gave us permission to return to our hotel rooms to work on assignments.  I took a few photos & videos of the blizzard from my room window.  I was able to get some work done despite the lights coming on & turning off at random times.  It made me think of a power plant employee flicking a switch on & off as a prank.  The blizzard eventually passed, and the electricity stayed on.

The last day of the course was Thursday, February 13.  Everyone presented their projects in small groups.  My project was about setting up a skidoo engine & body repair course at my school for middle & high school students.  A course like this is needed in all northern communities.  The course was finished at lunch time.  The instructors thanked everyone for their participation and asked them to fill out a feedback form.  We then took a group photo.  We were then dismissed.  Everyone bid each other farewell and to stay in touch.

Overall, it was a good course.  I learned a lot and made new connections.

I spent the last day of PD Week in Iqaluit doing professional reading, exploring the town, and shopping for supplies.

Inuksuk High School.

Shawarma plate.

The town has grown & changed in the last 13 years.  New buildings have been added, and old ones have been renovated.  I walked around town, photographing landmarks and points of interest.  I walked by Inuksuk High School, the place where my Nunavut teaching career started in 2012.  It’s hard to believe how much time has passed since.  I feel like a veteran teacher.  I bought & enjoyed a shawarma plate for dinner.

I returned to Arctic Bay on February 15.  The Canadian North turboprop plane approached the airport from the north and flew over the community.  I was able to take a few good photos of the town before we landed.

Arctic Bay. February 15, 2025.

Stage 2 Marksmanship (2025)

The 2025 marksmanship team of 3045 Army Cadet Corps participated in the Stage 2 Postal Shoot competition on January 26.  This competition would determine if they would advance to Stage 3, the regional championship.

Competition targets are mailed to participating corps & squadrons.  The targets need to be used and mailed back to the Regional Cadet Support Unit (RCSU) before the assigned deadline.  Officers at RCSU review the targets, score them, organize them according to areas, and then determine which teams advance to Stage 3.  3045 is in the Arctic Zone.

The marksmanship team & I assembled in the gym in the afternoon.  We set everything up and the cadets spent several relays practicing & zeroing in their rifles.  The five cadets then had a 10-minute break.

Cadets were required to shoot four competition target papers: two in the prone position and two while standing.  It didn’t matter in which order.  The relays lasted 30 minutes each because the cadets shot two competition papers at the same time.  I encouraged the cadets to take their time, especially when shooting the standing targets.  Shooting while standing is more challenging than prone because you must rely on your arms & muscles to keep the air rifle steady.  Breathing control is also important

We were allowed to review the target papers but not mark them.  The cadets looked over their results carefully before I placed the papers in a sealed envelope.  I congratulated the team for completing Stage 2 and hoped they scored enough points to advance to Stage 3 in Winnipeg.

The results of Stage 2 will be published some time next month.  For now, it’s the waiting game.

Here Comes 2025

Picture Source: iStock. ThinkNeo.

I spent Christmas down south with family and friends.  The weather was warmer, and the noise was louder.  (Vehicles, planes, helicopters, sirens, etc).  A downside to living in a city, I guess.  I used the time to complete medical appointments, and buy supplies for school, cadets, & myself.  I shipped the items Canadian North Cargo.  My brief vacation came & went, and I returned to Arctic Bay on December 31.  I was glad to be back before the end of 2024 because I could observe & document the community’s New Years Eve & Day celebrations for the third time.

I previously watched and photographed the people of Arctic Bay celebrating the new year from the top of a hill behind the centre of town.  I decided to return to the same spot but armed with the school’s Canon XA20 camcorder.  I tried last year to film the vehicle parade with my compact digital camera, but the bitter cold drained the battery, forcing me to rely on pictures.  I hoped the camcorder’s battery was longer lasting.

Experience taught me to dress warmly.  I put on as many layers as I could because I would be sitting up there for quite some time.  And the weather gets pretty cold at the end of December.  I packed my camera gear and two flashlights into a large backpack and fired up my skidoo.  I let the machine warm up for several minutes and then drove towards the centre of town.  It was pitch- black outside except for streetlights and house lights.

I drove behind the Co-op store and up the slope between two tall hills but didn’t get very far.  There wasn’t enough snow on the ground, and I didn’t want the skidoo track to get ripped up by rocks.  I walked the rest of the way.  I got to the spot earlier than expected.  The time was 11:30pm.  The walk up was slow, and I stopped a few times to catch my breath, but I guess I’m more physically fit than I think.  I took a few photos of Arctic Bay while waiting for the clock to strike midnight.  The temperature was cold and there was some wind.

The clock struck midnight and new year arrived.  “Happy New Year!” I proclaimed to myself.  I then turned on the camcorder and began filming the outdoor celebrations.  People exited the community hall and their homes and watched fireworks shooting into the sky in town & out on the ice.  People got into their vehicles, drove onto the ice, and proceeded south towards Uluksan Point.  Car & truck horns honked loudly, and skidoo drivers revved their engines in celebration of the arrival of 2025.  Uluksan Point is the starting point of the annual vehicle parade.

The wind started to pick up where I was sitting, forcing me to put my hood up.  I had originally planned to set the camcorder on the ground on a small tripod and just press record, but I could no longer risk it due to the wind.  I was sitting on a narrow outcrop with short and steep cliffs on either side.  The wind could push the camcorder over the side, and I’d lose it & the video card.  I did my best to hold the camcorder & tripod steadily while wearing thin gloves.  I should have brought a mat to sit on.

The vehicle parade began at about 12:20am.  Fireworks shot into the sky from Uluksan Point as a very long snake of skidoos, atvs, cars, and & trucks emerged from the corner and began driving in an S pattern on the ice.  Skidoos led the way.  There must have been 100 vehicles and more in the column.  It was pitch black out there.  All vehicles had their high beams on.  It’s a good thing the ice is really thick on January 1, because a vehicle going through the ice at this time in the season would be disastrous.  The long column of lights slowly advanced towards Arctic Bay.  It took drivers 16 minutes to reach the shoreline.  They did a loop around and then parked in a long line in front of the breakwater pier and Northern Store.

More fireworks were launched into the night sky from the long line of vehicles.  I saw people walking between the vehicles as small bright explosions lit up the night sky above them.  I braved the bitter cold and continued filming.

The skidoos drove off the ice first and continued the vehicle parade through town.  Skidoo engines revved, and car & truck horns honked in celebration.  More fireworks were launched in the community.  The skidoos drove back onto the ice and assembled in a line far out in the bay.  Then they drove towards the gas station.  Cars, trucks, and atvs remained in town.

The time was 1:30am at this point and I made the decision to return home.  I had been up on the hill for 2 hours, my fingers were cold & numb, and the wind was picking up.  I didn’t want to get frostbite.  I packed the camcorder and everything I brought into my backpack and began the slow trek down the hill.  I found my skidoo in the darkness and got it started.  I let it warm up for a few minutes and then drove slowly towards the nearest road.  I drove a little faster once on the road and made it safely home.  I made myself a large cup of hot chocolate.

I hope 2025 will be a good year.  There are many good things to hope for.  A completely free & independent Ukraine is the main one for me.  Hopefully the people of Syria can look towards a better life now that the dictator has been kicked out.  I just hope the lunatic returning to the White House won’t screw things up badly like he did the last time he was in charge.  The situation in the Middle East is still very volatile.  Hopefully something can be worked out to bring an end to the ongoing conflict.  Only time will tell.

I’ve recorded quite a bit of footage of the New Year’s Day celebrations so it’s going to take me some time to go through it all and put together a few videos.  In the meantime, Happy New Year everyone!

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Update: Sorry for the very long wait, but the New Year’s Day videos are finally done!  You can view them on my YouTube channel.  Click below on the following links:

New Year’s Day In Arctic Bay (2025) – Part 1

New Year’s Day In Arctic Bay (2025) – Part 2 – X2 Version

New Year’s Day In Arctic Bay (2025) – Part 2 – X5 Version

New Year’s Day In Arctic Bay (2025) – Part 3

New Year’s Day In Arctic Bay (2025) – Part 4