High School Graduation

It was the middle of October and three senior high school students were excited.  Their special day - graduation - was just around the corner.  Years of hard work led to this momentous occasion.  High school would soon be behind them and "doors" to new opportunities would be open to them.  They were already thinking about Arctic College, universities/trade schools down south,  and Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa.

          

On October 15th, the three graduates, and teachers of Inuujaq School decorated the local community hall.  The decorations included: hundreds of balloons, a purple archway, white snowflakes, golden stars, and a blue star-filled walkway.  Paulette, the high school art teacher, made a large graduation mural and had it hung on the back wall of the stage.  Paulette was also the head of the Graduation Committee.  As the decorations went up, she and the grads talked about the program.  All the decorations were up after several hours.    

            

A banquet was held before the ceremony on the evening of October 16th.  Rows of tables and chairs were set up in front of the stage.  The tables were decorated with candles and lights.  Paulette recruited the teachers to prepare the food.  The main courses included ham, turkey, chicken, and caribou.  I prepared the salads again this year: garden salad & Caesar salad.  Other side dishes included stuffing and potato salad.

            

The banquet began at 6pm.  Everyone was dressed in formal attire.  I was wearing a black suit with a sealskin tie.  Paulette welcomed everyone to the graduation banquet and asked an elder to bless the food.  The graduates had the honour of going to the buffet tables first.  Everyone else followed, filling their plates with delicious food.

            

The graduation cake was prepared by Jean-Francois (JF), the high school science & math teacher.  Last year, he made the graduation cake for the high school graduates in Arviat.  He combined three small cakes into one mega-cake.  He used red, white, and yellow icing to complement the red graduation gowns.

            

The graduates stood behind the cake after the banquet to have their pictures taken.  Paulette hired local Arctic Bay resident, Clare Kines, to take professional photographs.  Of course, people had brought their own cameras & iPods to take pictures.  The cake was cut up into equal pieces and offered to everyone in attendance.  The cake was devoured in several minutes.  JF received many positive reviews for the grad cake and even received offers to make cakes for future birthday parties.

            

2015 Graduates

The tables were folded up and put away.  The leftovers and empty plates were placed in the kitchen.  The table decorations were placed in boxes and the chairs were rearranged to face the stage.  While this was happening the three graduates put on their graduation gowns and posed for more photographs.  I let one of my students take pictures with my camera.  Slowly, the hall began to fill with people and by 8pm, there was quite an audience.  The principal and high school teachers sat on stage while the rest of the staff sat with the audience.  The ceremony began at 8pm.

            

The procession begins.

Qaapiq Attagutsiak.

The emcee was Kataisee Attagutsiak.  She translated the programs into Inuktitut.  The English programs were prepared by Ryan, the media teacher.  Kataisee's mother, Qaapiq Attagutsiak, lit a qulliq to signal the start of the ceremony.  (Qaapiq is Arctic Bay's most prominent elder).  The audience stood up and waited for the three graduates to be escorted down the blue star-filled walkway by the local RCMP.  The crowd cheered over the music as the graduates began their celebratory walk to the stage.  The graduates chose the song "Renegades" by X Ambassadors as their procession song.

            

Leah May performed the opening prayer in Inuktitut.  Everyone took their seats when she was finished.  The three graduates sat centre stage. 

            

Principal Salam addressed the graduates and congratulated them for completing high school.  He also thanked the parents for supporting them through "the best of times and the worst of times".  He then called on each graduate to receive their diploma.  They all raised their diplomas high towards the audience.  The audience responded with cheers of delight.

            

Me announcing the winner of the
Citizenship & Leadership Award.

The next part of the program called for the presentation of awards.  There were five awards to give out: the Governor General Award, Hamlet Award, Baffinland Iron Ore Corporation Award, Citizenship & Leadership Award, and English & Art Award.  I was tasked with presenting the Citizenship & Leadership Award to Roxanne Kigutak.  Emily Kalluk won the Governor General Award. 

            

The three graduates were given the opportunity to say a "few words of wisdom" after having just completed high school.  Their short speeches touched on believing in yourself, never give up, and thanking their family & friends for support. 

            

Parents & members of the audience were also invited to the stage to say a few words.  Their short speeches focused on encouraging parents to keep sending their young children to school so that they too can graduate and move on to post-secondary education.

            

One of the graduates approached me several weeks before the ceremony to ask me if she could borrow the EASY Button I bought from Staples.  The graduates wanted to use it during the ceremony when they finished their speeches.  They wanted to inject some humour by saying that finishing high school was easy.  I happily obliged.  (I bought a Staples EASY Button a year ago for motivational purposes.  I let my students push the button whenever they complete an activity they feel is "too difficult").  The graduates almost forgot about the button but just remembered right after the last parent spoke on stage.  Everyone had a good laugh when the button was pressed.

            

Paulette was the last person to give a speech to the audience and graduates.  She acknowledged the help of all the volunteers and the donations givens by various organizations.  She then called on Leah May one last time to say a closing prayer.

            

The graduates were led off the stage by the RCMP as the song "Renegades" played over loud speakers.  The three (former) high school students held their heads high as the audience cheered and snapped photos.  They stood at the back of the hall and shook the hands of well-wishers.  I shook their hands again and had them press the EASY button one last time.

            

An evening celebratory dance was held after the ceremony.  I chose to go home and rest for the night.