Closing Down For The Summer

The last day of school for teachers was Monday, June 6.  Even though school was officially “out for summer”, there was still work to be done by staff.  A contractor had been hired to paint the entire school, inside & outside, and the carpets in the high school classrooms were being replaced with hard flooring.  The staff immediately knew what needed to be done when the principal made the announcement at the last staff meeting.  “Everything has to come down and all the furniture needs to be moved.”

            

I spent the weekend going through my classroom, throwing out unclaimed classwork & tests, and moving furniture off the carpet.  All the musical instruments were moved to the library.  I was able to commandeer a loading cart and fill it with textbooks & novels.  I placed the cart in the storage room for the summer.  All the storage rooms in the school would be filled with resources from the classrooms by the end of Monday.  I removed all the posters & staples in my room.  Any resources I deemed important were taken home. 

My room was bare.  Well, more like 85%.  The carpet doesn’t cover the entire room, enabling me to move everything onto the small piece of hardwood flooring.  When all the work was done, I looked around the mostly-empty classroom and realized . . . more work was waiting for me upon my return in August.  Everything would have to be placed back the way it was.  But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

The entire staff assembled in the downstairs Home Ec Room for the year-end potluck.  My contribution was a large Delissio pizza.  JF made a birthday cake for the staff members who are “Summer Babies”.  The principal did a short debrief of the past year and an Inuk teacher said a prayer.  People lined up with plates in their hands and helped themselves to the wide variety of foods.

Me cutting tuktu.  Maybe I should have
looked at the camera.

I started a different line.  There was frozen tuktu (caribou) meat sitting on a large piece of cardboard on the floor.  A large ulu (knife) was resting beside it.  I went over and began cutting pieces.  The raw meat was really tasty.  I went over to the other line when it was smaller.

We were all full at the end of the potluck.  I knew I wouldn’t be eating dinner that night.  Leftovers were taken home.

I spent the rest of the day packing for my flight.  I was leaving bright & early on the morning of June 7.

I will be coming back to a newly painted school in August.  The Nanisivik Port Facility project should be further along because the workers arrived when I was leaving.  And the new health centre will also be closer to completion.  I will be taking a break from my blogging duties for the next little while.  See you all in August!     

The Magnificent Nine

The high school graduation ceremony on Friday, June 3 was the second ceremony Inuujaq School held this year.  The nine graduates didn’t want to wait until October, and several of them would be attending college down south in September.  The head of the Graduation Committee was Paulette, the high school Art & English teacher.  Planning & preparation for the event began several months in advance.  Money was raised to pay for the gowns, food, and professional photographs.  JF was in charge of food and preparing the graduation cake.  As for decorating the community hall, we used the decorations that were ordered for the ceremony in October of last year, but had arrived late.

            

The community hall was decorated on June 2 after the year-end activities.  I arrived at the community hall at around 5:30pm, wanting to see if my help was needed.  Music was playing on loud speakers to keep morale up and the floor was littered with colourful balloons.  Balloons are really popular in this community.  A red carpet, with stars pasted on it, ran down the middle of the hall.  A tall white & purple arch stood in the centre.  I was put to work on tying balloons with string.  I was glad I brought ear plugs because some balloons randomly exploded.  (This happens every year).  When the balloons were tied, high school students & teachers went around and hung the balloons around the hall.  They used ladders & tape.

            

The front of the stage was decorated with flowers, purple lights, and a big 2016 sign.  Chairs, a podium, and a table for a qulliq occupied the stage itself.  And the back of the stage was covered with black silhouette cut outs of each graduate.  Both sides of the stage were adorned with words of inspiration in English & Inuktitut.  Everything was ready to go by the evening.

            

June 3 was also the last day of school for students.  Report cards were handed out and school was dismissed for the summer at 3pm.  The early dismissal was also done to let the graduates and everyone else attending the ceremony to go home and get ready.  Unfortunately, one of the graduates would not be attending.   

            

The food for the graduation dinner was prepared by the Inuujaq School staff and a few parents.  You probably already guessed it, but yes, I prepared the salads again.  I carefully walked down to the community hall with all the greens in my hands and added the salad dressings there.  I wore an apron over my black suit while I was mixing.  The menu was quite diverse.  I’ll just let the attached pictures speak for themselves rather than list everything that was served.  I think we had all four food groups covered. 

            

The dinner began at 6pm.  Everyone was formally dressed.  An elder blessed the food and the graduates began the buffet line.  There was more than enough food to feed everyone . . . twice.  I think I ate two servings.  I was glad I had a very small lunch.  At the end of the dinner, one of the graduates sang a song she wrote specifically for the occasion.  Everyone liked it.

            

Grad Cake.

The 9 - 1 Graduates.

Everyone cleaned up the eating area.  Leftovers, cutlery, dirty dishes, and table decorations were placed in the kitchen.  The tables were folded up and put away.  The chairs were rearranged to the face the stage.  The graduates put on their red gowns, sealskin sashes, & mortarboards.  Their families & friends were already snapping photos of them.  The large graduation cake, in the shape of an open book, was carefully brought out and the graduates stood behind it.  More photos were taken.  The cake was then cut into many pieces and fed to the arriving guests.  JF did a very good job preparing the cake. 

            

Emcees Kataisee & Eunice.

The emcees were Kataisee & Eunice.  The sisters were wearing traditional Inuit amautis.  Kataisee taught high school last year and Eunice teaches Grades 7 & 8.  The principal and high school teachers sat on the backrow of chairs on stage.  When everyone was seated, the ceremony began at 8pm.  The grads were led to the stage by the RCMP.  They took their seats while the audience clapped and cheered.  Qapik Attagutsiak, a well-respected elder in the community, proceeded to light the qulliq.  Rev. Sam Willie did the opening prayer.

            

In his address, the principal congratulated the graduates for completing high school, and thanked the parents for their support.  He encouraged the nine students to continue their studies in Arctic College and/or abroad.  He then presented each graduate with their high school diploma.        

The Valedictorian was unable to present her speech because she was out of town.  However, a thank you note she wrote before leaving, was read instead.  She thanked her parents & teachers for helping her finish high school.  The grads in attendance were then given the opportunity to say a thank you speech.

            

There were nine various awards to give out to the graduates.  The awards acknowledged exceptional efforts in areas such as, Inuktitut, fine arts, math & science, student support, and most improved academics.  I had the honour of presenting the Citizenship & Leadership Award.  Each lucky recipient received a certificate and a gift.

            

Parents who wanted to say a few words were invited to come up to the front.  The short speeches were spoken in Inuktitut. 

            

Paulette had the honour of closing the ceremony by thanking all the individuals and organizations who helped her with the fundraising, planning, and preparations. 

            

The graduates threw their mortarboards up into the air.  They were truly happy that they finished high school.  They then quickly picked them up and were escorted off stage by the RCMP.  Another batch of young adults, ready to face the world. 

            

The teachers stayed after the ceremony to clean dishes and to load everything that needed to be returned to the school in pickup trucks.  It took several trips to bring everything back.  Leftover food was given away to anyone who wanted it.  A celebratory dance was held at the community hall later that evening.    

The Final Days of School

Food prices in Nunavut are expensive; really expensive.  This has been the norm for many years but it seems the issue only came to national attention in 2014, when APTN did a story titled, “Wasting Away”.  The episode looked at food insecurity in Nunavut, but focused primarily on Rankin Inlet.  The network did a follow up episode the next year, called, “Food For Thought”.  The latter covers the high food prices in Arctic Bay.  This year, Arctic Bay experienced a pop (aka soda, soft drink) shortage, beginning in late April.  The community managed to drink its year supply of pop earlier than expected, forcing the Northern & Co-op stores to airlift more soft drinks to fill in the gap.  This has led to higher prices.

            

My receipt from the Co-op.

Cases & cases of popular soft drinks are brought up on sealift during the summer shipping season.  For most the next 7 – 8 months, prices are stable at around $2.50 per can.  Yes, per can.  When the sealift stock dwindles, the price goes up to $6 per can.  The price stays that way until the next sealift.  I decided to experience the shock of these high pop prices by buying a case of 12 from the Co-op on May 25.  The case was airlifted into the community and cost me $69.48.  I don’t think I’ll be doing that again next year.

            

CBC North did a story about the pop shortage on May 30.  The article also talked about the online auctions being held on Facebook.  One of my students was featured in the article, making him a celebrity for the next several days.  I guess the lesson here is to keep a stock of pop hidden somewhere in your house until the spring shortage hits.  (There always is a spring shortage in the community, but I think it was the online auctions that got the media interested).

            

As I mentioned in a previous post, the last full week of May was final exams.  I was able to get in some new topics at the beginning of the month before moving on to review.  My English & Social Studies classes had final exams.  My guitar class had a final performance test.  The key to preparing final exams is answer keys.  They make marking so much easier.  Answer keys are also handy when you prepare review packages.  I was glad that I was able to administer and mark all the exams before I left for Operation Spring Fix 16.

            

The year-end assembly was held on Thursday, June 2.  On the agenda was the kindergarten graduation, acknowledging & saying farewell to staff that were not returning, and the best attendance awards year-end draw.

            

A large & colourful “Congratulation Kindergarten” sign, complete with stars & pictures of the graduates occupied the far end of the gym.  The young Class of 2016 sat at the front, wearing blue graduation gowns with matching mortarboards.  The ceremony began with the kindergarten teacher calling up each graduate to receive their certificate & a handshake.  Then the entire graduating class posed for a group photo with their teacher and school principal.

           

DEA Member Darlene presents a gift to Mary.

Marlene says a few words.

Greg speaks to everyone after receiving
his gift.

Four staff members would not be returning the following year.  Mary, our school counselor, had accepted a job in Iqaluit and was moving with her husband at the end of month.  She received a gift and said a short thank you speech.  Marlene, the Grade 4 teacher, was next to receive a parting gift and given a chance to speak.  Greg, the Grade 6 teacher, was also not returning and would be moving down south.  He was presented with a gift from an elder.  In his thank you speech, he thanked everyone for supporting him for the last two years, and promised his students to be at their high school graduation ceremony in six years.  Ikey, a unilingual Inuit elder, was retiring after teaching shop class for many years.  For his efforts, he was rewarded with a gift and a very long niksik.

            

Ikey thanks everyone for their support.

Horizon was the K-4 winner.

Throughout the year, students who achieved best attendance for a month had their names placed in a draw for a big year-end prize.  For K-4, it was a bicycle, for 5-9, it was also a bicycle, and for high school, the prize was an iPad.  Community members were called to the front to draw a name from a can.  The lucky winners were announced and called to the front to receive their prizes.         

           

Capture the Flag.

Soccer.

Year End BBQ.

The festivities continued outside with a round-robin of games.  Some of the games were: Capture the Flag, Soccer, High Kick, and Inuit Games.  The tastiest station was the BBQ station behind the school.  The menu consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers, and juice boxes.  I alternated between the front & back of the school, snapping pictures of kids playing and eating.  The year-end activities ended at 3pm.  High school students and several teachers walked over to the community hall to help decorate the place for the high school graduation ceremony on June 3 (more on this in a future post).

            

Year End BBQ.

Students eating & drinking.

Soup.

JF & his shrimp cocktail.

Several teachers & I treated JF to a fancy dinner at the Tangmaarvik Inn later that evening.  It was his birthday and the event needed to be celebrated.  The full-course meal cost $60 per plate.  We had to wait a little bit for the eating area to be cleared.  The previous diners were tourists & their chaperones/guides from Arctic Kingdom.  The appetizers were a shrimp cocktail and a rice soup.  The main course was a chicken stir-fry on rice with asparagus.  And I think the dessert was a pie of some kind but I can’t remember.  JF received a birthday card and a few gifts from everyone.  The birthday dinner outing was a nice way to finish the day. 

Main course dinner.

  

Operation Spring Fix 16 – Part 2

This post may contain descriptions and pictures that some may find graphic.

            

360 degree camp shot.

The valley behind Ijuyuarjuk.

All that was left of the baby seal.

Everyone slowly woke up and emerged from their tents on the morning of May 28.  There were barely any clouds in the sky, a good sign that today would be a good day.  The Coleman stoves were fired up and American-made, Meals-Ready-To-Eat (MREs) were prepared by cadets.  Ranger Samson also slow cooked the left over baby seal we didn’t eat last night.  I have to admit that the seal tasted very good.

            

Small arctic char.

I was surprised that we had consumed the entire seal in one night.  I thought it would last a little longer.  All that was left were the intestines, organs, and some fat.  These leftovers would most likely be consumed by birds. 

            

A "polar bear" eating one of the chars
that was caught.

We waited for the food to settle in our bodies.  Some cadets went jigging out in the lake.  Ranger Samson drilled several holes for the cadets using his ice auger.  Only two small fish were caught.

           

The cadets went seal hunting for the rest of the morning.  I stayed behind to guard the camp against any aggressive wildlife.  I was given a .303 rifle for self-defense.  Everyone left on two skidoos and qamutiks (sleds).  They came back at lunch time, but with no seals in tow.  We were all disappointed.  We were hoping to catch some so that we wouldn’t have to eat the MREs.  We had MREs for lunch.  They were good, but not great. 

            

Campsite in the middle of the Ijuyuarjuk Lake.

Several cadets wanted to explore the Nauyat Cliff so I and Ranger Napassi went along as adult supervision.  She brought her .303 for polar bear protection.  We packed granola bars, juice boxes, and toilet paper.  The first part of the hike was getting to the base of a hill.  We thought the hill was close but we quickly found out that it was much further away.  Judging distance in the north is difficult because there is so much open space.  We finally reached the base of the hill and began to climb up.  There were some slippery parts but I used my machete as a makeshift ice pick.  When we finally got to the top, we stopped to catch our breaths.  I took out my camera and took pictures of the campsite and surrounding mountains.

            

Open water.

Cadets building an inukshuk.

Tall, completed inukshuk.

We hiked up a higher hill where we could see open water to the south.  We took a quick break before continuing our hike.  Several of the cadets found a nice spot to build an inukshuk.  They build a tall, skinny one, balancing rocks on top of another.  I took several pictures of the building process, and of them posing next to it.  “Now the people will know that we were here,” I commented, referencing a phrase from a Heritage Minutes commercial.  Everyone laughed.

            

We walked closer to the valley.  The cadets scrambled up a tall pile of rocks to get a view of the valley below.  Behind the pile was an even bigger pile of rocks.  My camera was passed around and many photos were taken of us, going from one rock to another.  No one was injured.  By this time, the sun was shining brightly above us.  I was very warm and sweating underneath my Canada Goose parka.

            

Our original destination was the summit of a tall mountain on the right side of the valley but we soon discovered that it would take too long to get there.  We came upon a large opening between two tall hills that was covered with snow.  The idea of sliding immediately came to mind.  We slid down both hills.  I climbed a little higher and slid quite a distance.  The experience would have been more exciting & intense if I had skis.  I rejoined the group waiting at the bottom and we walked back to the camp site. 

            

The evening bonfire was held in Levasseur Inlet an hour or two after dinner.  The firewood, a collection of discarded & cut up sealift crates, had been transported to the inlet on Thursday.  We drove up to the inlet, crossing two large cracks in the sea ice.  The cracks weren’t there when I was travelling to Ikpiki with JF.  It took us about an hour to get to where the firewood was located.  I thought the pile was in the area I explored last year, but it was actually on the southern tip.  The landscape in this area reminded me of Mars because all the rocks were red & brown. 

Building the bonfire.

The cadets built a small teepee using the firewood and got it started by lighting several Firestarter sticks I bought at the Co-op.  The fire grew steadily over the next several minutes.  The marshmallows were brought out later.  We had planned to have hot dogs but we forgot them in Arctic Bay.  The cadets posed for a group photo at the end of the bonfire.  The fire was extinguished using snow.

            

Funny group photo.

I took a break from driving and sat in a qamutik on the way back to the campsite.  When we were crossing one of the ice cracks, the driver of my skidoo pulled the qamutik a little too quickly to the right, causing me to roll off it.  I was holding on but I guess my grip wasn’t strong enough.  I landed on the snow, quickly stood up, and jumped back on.  I wasn’t injured.  I had a feeling this event would be talked about for the next several days.

            

Sunday, May 29, was all about tearing down the camp and heading home.  Once again, breakfast consisted of MREs.  The commanding officer of 3045, Lt. May, arrived at the camp on his skidoo, bearing gifts.  He brought the hot dogs we were supposed to eat at the bonfire.  They would be served at lunch time.  It took most of the morning to tear down all the tents and collect most of the garbage.  We packed everything into the qamutiks after lunch.

            

Debriefing.

Lt. May led the convoy of skidoos & qamutiks to Arctic Bay.  I drove my skidoo and pulled a fully loaded qamutik.  I got better at crossing the ice cracks and my machine didn’t struggle.  We stopped several times to refuel, to stretch our legs, and to take quick bathroom breaks.  We saw plenty of seals along the way, but we didn’t catch any.  I think Ranger Samson tried, but I don’t know if he was successful.  It took us a little over four hours to reach Arctic Bay.  Lt. May held a quick debriefing at the Cliffs near Arctic Bay, congratulating everyone for having a fun time and for coming back alive.  He also gave the cadets instructions on what to do when we arrived in town.

            

The convoy stopped in front of the Northern Store.  We spent the next 30 minutes unloading everything and placing them in two pickup trucks.  Personal kit was placed in one truck while equipment & supplies belonging to the corps went in the other truck.  The cadets were driven home with their personal kit.  JF, CI Reid, and I were driven home last.  I left my skidoo out on the ice.  I had made arrangements to have it placed in storage for the summer. 

            

Overall, the camping trip was a success.  This was my last land trip before the summer break.  JF said that he also had a fun time and would visit the area in the near future. 

End of Operation Spring Fix 16 mini-series.