Remembrance Day is one of two important local
parades for 3045 Army Cadet Corps. (The
other is the Annual Ceremonial Review in April). Planning for the ceremony usually starts in
mid-October. There are parade positions
to assign, drill movements to review, programs to make, and people to contact. We always try to recruit people interested in
participating in the ceremony. They can
read passages from the Bible, lay wreathes, or say what Remembrance Day means
to them. The cadets also work hard to
make their uniforms look spotless and parade boots shiny.
We weren't expecting that many people to attend the
ceremony this year because November 11 occurred on a Friday. Remembrance Day is a public holiday for
everyone. Even the school is
closed. We assumed many people would be
going out on the land because of the long weekend. Any audience is better than none.
In the days
leading up to Remembrance Day, several teachers tailored their lessons to focus
on the sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers in times of conflict - past &
present. I showed several Heritage
Minute commercials about Canadians in the First & Second World Wars, and explained
to my students, why we, and people all over the world, annually observe this
day. (Remembering those who died so that
we may live in peace).
The Halloween decorations were taken down at Inuujaq
School and replaced with poppies, crosses, and other Remembrance Day themed posters
made by students. People also began
wearing poppies, some of them made from red dyed sealskin.
The dress rehearsal was held at the community hall on
November 9. The program is "set in
stone", but who-does-what-and-says-what changes every year. The drill commands & movements were reviewed
& practiced, and the three chosen cadets rehearsed John McCrae's iconic
poem, In Flanders Fields. I made sure we practiced the most challenging
part of the ceremony: standing still for the playing of Last Post, Piper's Lament, and Reveille. The duration is only 5 minutes, but for
youth, the length can feel like an eternity.
The ceremony began at 10:45am. The cadets had arrived an hour earlier to set
up chairs and put up several posters.
Paulette's WWI mural from last year was taped to the back wall of the
hall. Everyone stood for the arrival of
the Colour Party & cadets. The
cadets were led in by the a local RCMP officer.
The opening Inuktitut prayer was done by Leah May. I continued with the welcome address, mostly
following the same speech I prepared last year.
(I wasn't being lazy. My speech
was just that good). Everyone stood for
the playing of O Canada. Our sound
technician & Inuktitut translator was Sam Willie. He provided prerecorded instrumental tracks
for when the program called for everyone to sing the hymns, Abide With Me & O God Our Help In Ages Past.
The first Bible
reading, Micah 4: verse 3-4, was done by Isaac Shooyook & Lt. May. (Lt. May is the commanding officer of 3045,
and Shooyook is the MLA representing the Quttiktuq constituency). The Last Post, Minute of Silence, Piper's
Lament, and Reveille were done without incident. I applaud the cadets for being able to stand
still without having to fall out.
The Act of Remembrance was done in English, Inuktitut,
and French. The second Bible reading,
Psalm 121, was done by Ryan & Eunice, two Inuujaq School teachers. Clare Kines shared his thoughts on
Remembrance Day, and I explained the meaning behind the poppy. I also gave a brief history of the life of
Lt. Col. John McCrae and how he wrote his best known poem. I then called up three cadets, B. Ejangiaq,
S. Ejangiaq, & S. Pauloosie, to recite
In Flanders Fields. Two other cadets
laid a wreath in front of the speaker's podium.
The ceremony ended with the playing of God Save the
Queen, a closing prayer, closing remarks, and a march off. Sam Willie did the closing prayer and Lt. May
handled the closing remarks. There was
coffee & tea for members of the public.
The cadet corps took a group photo before being dismissed for the rest
of the day.
*Remembrance Day photos provided by John, Grade 8 teacher. Thank you.
Inuujaq School held a Safe School & Anti-Bullying
Week from November 7 - 15. The RCMP,
Elders, and mental health nurse visited the school and talked to the students
about the negative effects of bullying, and why no one should be a bully. I showed my high school students the 2011 American
documentary Bully. The film follows the trials & tribulations
of four teenagers, bullied for a variety of reasons, and how they overcome
these roadblocks in life.
The school's Student Support Teacher, Kaitlynd, spearheaded
two anti-bullying campaigns: Caught You Caring and Pink Shirts. The first one "is a simple, but very
affective idea that recognize[s] young people who are helping make their
schools [&] communities safer and more caring." Adult staff are instructed to "catch students
caring" and write their names on a prize voucher. The vouchers are put into a draw box and names are randomly drawn for prizes. The second campaign sees everyone colouring white
shirts, (on paper), pink, and writing a pledge to stop bullying. The staff took it a step further by including
photos of their faces. Kaitlynd pasted
the coloured caricatures of the staff near the front entrance. The students' pink shirts were posted all
over the school.
 |
| Kindergarten |
 |
| Grade 1 |
The Safe School & Anti-Bullying Week culminated in an
assembly on November 15. Classes had
prepared posters, songs, and videos to share with the student body, parents,
elders, and community members.
Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 3, and High School cultural classes sang
songs. Grade 4 did a presentation &
video about being a friend, not a bully.
But I think the biggest draws were the videos made by Grades 4, 8, 9,
& high school. Unfortunately, I
don't think Blogger will let me upload the videos because the files are quite
large. And I don't have permission from the
students & staff in the videos to upload their faces to the Internet. Hopefully, one day, their hard work will be
shared on the Internet. For now, I'll
give you a quick summary of each video.
 |
| High School |
Grade 4 - The theme of the video is "Be a Friend,
Not a Bully."
Grade 8 - The video looks at where bullying happens in
& around school and what we should do to stop it.
Grade 9 - The video is set to the song "Mad
World" by Gary Jules and states that it's hard growing up in an isolated
community like Arctic Bay, especially if you feel alone. These challenges can be overcome if everyone
is "welcoming [&] inclusive".
High School - The video is called, "Closing the Door
on Cyber Bullying." Cyber Bullying
is explained and examples are shown.
What follows is a comedic chase of the cyber bully and kicking him out
of Inuujaq School. I have a cameo in the
video. The cyber bully runs into my
classroom while I'm practicing drums and scares me. I stand my ground and tell him to get
out. My cameo was well received by
everyone.
*Photos provided by Ryan, media teacher. Thank you.
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