The Sun Returns & The Qanirraqtit Conference

The day was February 5^th and the very special moment had finally arrived.  I briefly stopped teaching my second period class and quickly drew open the red curtains.  Several students from other classes came into mine as I was pulling out my digital camera from my backpack.  We all watched through the windows and waited in silence.  My camera was at the ready.

            

This is exactly like All Summer In A Day without the constant rain, I thought to myself.

            

If the surrounding mountains were not in the way, this important event would be happening in late January.  After waiting a minute or two, the sun appeared from behind a mountain.  Not all of it; just the “top” part, if you can call it that.  That’s all everyone needed.  “The sun’s back!” someone said.  I clicked several pictures.  Dark season was done for another year.

            

As I’ve written on many previous accounts, the sun disappears from view in mid-November and doesn’t come back until early February.  Arctic Bay still receives some sunlight in the middle of the day but we don’t see the actual sun.  The departure of the sun is a somber moment but its return is a celebration.  The sun only stayed up for about 20 minutes before sinking behind a mountain.  From now on, the sun will stay above the mountains for an additional 20 minutes with every passing day.  By the time May arrives, the entire area will be enveloped by 24-hour daylight.

            

Inuujaq School held its annual Return of the Sun Assembly on February 6^th.  Everyone gathered in the gym for the celebration.  Posters depicting the return of the sun were pasted along the gym walls.  Quite a few teachers & students were wearing bright colours.  The assembly began with the lights being turned off and an elder lighting a qulliq (oil lamp).  She briefly explained the history of the qulliq and how the lamp kept Inuit warm during the harsh dark season. 

            

The lights were turned on and the high school Inuit culture teacher continued the festivities by playing guitar and singing two songs in Inuktitut.  This was followed by the Grades 9 & 8 teachers playing African drums.  The assembly concluded with the Grade 3 teacher playing “You Are My Sunshine” on the accordion.

           

My workload as the school’s Professional Development (PD) Coordinator increased with the arrival of February.  Professional Development (PD) Week was scheduled for February 12 – 16, and this year, a conference was taking place in Iqaluit.  The Qanirraqtit Conference would only be attended by teachers in the Northern Qikiqtani Region because there are not enough hotel rooms to accommodate everyone in the entire Qikiqtani Region.  Iqaluit recently lost 87 hotel rooms because the Hotel Arctic was bought by the Arctic College and turned into a student residence.  The Southern Qikiqtani Region will have their PD conference in 2019.  (The last time the Nunavut Teachers Association (NTA) held a territorial wide conference was in 2012).

            

Planning for the conference had begun as early as last year.  Teachers who were interested in presenting at the conference had to make their intentions known by the end of October (2017).  For me, I had to regularly check my email and download any documents that needed to be passed on to the staff.  I also relayed any questions the staff had about the upcoming conference.  I spent late January helping teachers with online registration.  Flight information, hotel accommodations, conference programs, bus schedules, and blizzard plans were distributed in early February.  Everyone received an envelope containing these documents.  I stored copies of all conference related documents in a large binder, thus making my life easier.

            

Everyone, minus one, flew down to Iqaluit on February 12 on two separate flights.  I & five other teachers were on the late flight.  We flew up to Resolute, then down to Iqaluit, arriving at 10:30pm.  Originally, I thought the conference committee was going to charter an aircraft, but they instead chose on two First Air flights.  I didn’t know why until I got to Inuksuk High School the following day.  First Air was one of the major sponsors of the conference.  Everyone from Inuujaq School, except me, stayed in a hotel.  I stayed with my older brother. 

Translator booths.

The “main base of operations” for the conference was Inuksuk High School.  Memories of my time teaching there in 2012 & 2013 flooded my mind as I walked through the main doors.  The registration area was in the cafeteria.  I found the table labelled “Arctic Bay” and was given a name tag & a welcome bag, happily supplied by First Air.  Everyone was shuffled into the gym for the opening ceremony.  The gym had been converted into a makeshift auditorium.  Chairs arranged in a large semicircle occupied the middle of the gym.  At the back were tables containing listening devices and booths for the Inuktitut, English, and French translators.  The ceremony began at 9am.

            

Listening devices.

NTA President: John Fanjoy.

Deputy Minister of Education:
Pujjuut Kusugak.

The two emcees welcomed everyone to Iqaluit and the conference.  They called up NTA President John Fanjoy to deliver his welcome address.  At the end of his address, Fanjoy invited the Deputy Minister of Education, Pujjuut Kusugak, to say a few words.  In Inuktitut, he spoke about the importance of education and having qualified teachers to teach & inspire Nunavut’s youth.  The next presenter was David Serkoak who spoke about his life & his work as a teacher.  He ended his presentation by playing the Inuit drum.  Craig MacGregor, the person in charge of the entire conference, took the podium to welcome everyone to the conference and to thank his staff for helping him put everything together.  The week-long conference was officially declared “opened” by Hannah Stoney & Peepeelee Pijamini, two Inuit teachers who ceremonially lighted a qulliq at the front of the gym.  Everyone was dismissed for a 15-minute break.

            

David Serkoak.

The Frobisher Inn was the caterer, providing all the food & beverages for the snack breaks and the banquet.  (More on that later).  We were responsible for lunch & dinner.

            

Hannah Stoney & Peepeelee Pijamini.

Christine Jenkins

Everyone returned to the gym for the first Keynote Address.  There would be a Keynote Address at the beginning of each day of the conference.  Christine Jenkins was the first presenter, speaking about effective literacy instruction and reading strategies.  Her informative presentation lasted 90 minutes.  Everyone was then dismissed for lunch.  I immediately headed over to Yummy Shawarma.  I had gone without shawarma for about 2 months and I needed my fix.    

            

Prior to attending the conference, teachers were required to sign up for 8 periods of workshops, spread across three days.  Some workshops took up two or more periods.  There were plenty of choices to make.  I could spend several blog posts listing all the choices, so I’ll just focus on the workshops I attended.

            

The first workshop I attended was Youth Self-Injury, organized by the Embrace Life Council.  The presented was one of my former co-workers, Kim Masson.  The workshop focused on recognizing certain patterns of behaviour that youth exhibit when they self-injure, and what to do if the behaviour becomes severe.

            

Craft Sale.

A craft sale was held at the high school on the evening of February 13^th.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t as large as the one in 2015.  There were some interesting items but not many selections.

            

The following day, I attended three workshops on reading, archaeology education, and Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder.  All three workshops were very informative and provided good lists of resources for teachers to use.

            

Dr. Kris Wells.

Dr. Kris Wells from the University of Alberta gave a very good keynote address on Thursday, February 15^th.  His topics included: homophobia, transphobia, bullying, harassment, life for LGTBQ youths in schools, and school safety.  He was also promoting the website: nohomphobes.com.  I was glad to see a presentation like this happening in Nunavut because these topics are still taboo outside Iqaluit and need to be addressed.  The homophobic & transphobic behaviours of the north & the world need to be eradicated.  We’re human after all.  Dr. Wells concluded his presentation by sharing 4 ways teachers can make their schools more inclusive.

            

The last three workshops I had were about incorporating land skills in social studies, psychological first aid, and an introduction to autism spectrum disorders.

            

The evening banquet was held at the Frobisher Inn.  The NTA booked both conference rooms and had them turned into large dining halls.  Everyone dressed up for the occasion.  I also wore a sealskin tie & vest.  The catered food was excellent.  The main courses were prime rib & Asian flavoured chicken.  There were plenty of side orders & desserts to choose from.

            

Qaapik Attagutsiak & Natsiq Kango.

The banquet continued with musical performances from two high school students.  Alassua Hanson & Mary Itorcheak sang songs they personally wrote and throat sang to the delight of the audience.  To officially close the conference, a ceremonial qulliq lamp was lighted by Qaapik Attagutsiak from Arctic Bay She is Arctic Bay’s eldest elder.  (I didn’t know about this arrangement).  She briefly talked about her life and how she was taught to use a qulliq.  Natsiq Kango translated in English.

            

Me posing with coworkers and two teachers I met in Iqaluit.

The festivities continued with speeches from Craig MacGregor & John Fanjoy, and a local band performing for two hours. 

            

Nellie Kusugak.

There was one more Keynote Address on the morning of Friday, February 16^th.  The speaker was the Commissioner of Nunavut, Nellie Kusugak.  Kusugak has been involved in education since 1986 and was a teacher for many years.  She spoke about the importance of education, the role of teachers, and which teachers inspired her to have a career in education.

            

The Inuujaq School teachers flew back to Arctic Bay in the afternoon.  I made sure to have one more shawarma before leaving Iqaluit.  We brought back gifts, school supplies, and many memories.  The only thing left for me to do as PD Coordinator was help the teachers with their substantiation documents.

            

Arctic College constructed a new
addition to their main campus.

Overall, PD Week was a success.  We all learned a lot and networked with teachers in the North Qikiqtani Region.  I also successfully handed out all the custom made NTA fidget spinners I ordered from China.  I hope they’ll catch on and the association will ask me to order more.  I want to keep this craze going for a little longer.

NTA fidget spinner.