End of the School Year (2018)

"I made this."

A high school student found a clever way to recycle used & broken hockey sticks.  In shop class, he made a wooden frame for a small coffee table and then cut the hockey sticks into smooth equal pieces.  He placed the sticks in the centre square opening and nailed them to the frame.  He added a glass sheet on top for added protection.  He called me down to take pictures of his completed project.  I was quite impressed by his efforts and suggested that he look into making other furniture pieces that feature recycled hockey sticks.  He said he would think about it.

            

The staff of Inuujaq School held a year end potluck on the afternoon of June 6, the second last day of school.  Everyone found it hard to believe that the 2017-18 school year was done.  We all managed to get through our curriculums and complete our report cards on time.  A short afternoon break was warranted.

           

The potluck was held in the staff room.  We all brought a variety of foods to consume.  There was bread, muffins, cupcakes, crackers, nachos, cheese, candy, cooked seal meat, and raw narwhal.  A few announcements were made before we started eating.  The biggest announcement was that there would be a change in administration in August.  The current Principal Salam would be stepping aside but staying on as the new media teacher.  The new principal would be Morty, an Inuk elder with many years of teaching experience.  The Grade 6 teacher, Greg, would become the vice-principal in August.

           

DEA Chair Kataisee & Principal Salam.

Cooked seal & raw narwhal.

The head of the local District Education Authority (DEA), Kataisee, thanked Principal Salam for his many years of service and wished him the best in his new teaching position next year.  She also gave him a gift as a token of appreciation.

            

An elder blessed the food and wished everyone a safe & happy summer.  We ate well that afternoon and talked about our summer plans.

            

June 7 was the last day of school for students.  The students spent the morning cleaning out their desks, lockers, and binders.  The tables and chairs were piled up on one side so that the cleaning staff would have an easy time sweeping & mopping the floors.  Posters were taken down in the classroom & hallways, making the school appear empty.

                                   

The year end assembly was held in the gym in the afternoon.  The first part of the assembly was the Kindergarten graduation.  The graduates wore blue gowns to the occasion and sat at the front of the gym.  Their parents & guardians were in the audience, happy to see their children finish their first year of school, and excited to see them moving on to Grade 1. 

The principal and head of the DEA welcomed everyone to the assembly and congratulating the kindergarteners for successfully completing the school year.  The kindergarten teacher then called out each student’s name to receive their certificate.  The students were all smiles when they posed for photographs. 

Calbert receives a gift from DEA Chair Kataisee.

Principal Salam tells everyone all the great
work Kaitlynd (left) has done.

The assembly moved on to thanking the teachers who served the school well but, unfortunately, would not be returning in August.  The five teachers were Calbert, Kaitlynd, JF, Louise, and John.  They each received a parting gift and gave a short thank you speech to the audience.

Winner of the bicycle.

5-9 Winner of the tablet.

The last part of the assembly was the Best Attendance draw.  Students who achieved perfect attendance for a month had their names put into a draw for a year-end prize.  The draw was split into three categories: K-4, 5-9, and High School.  The names were drawn by parents in the audience.  The winner in the first group won a bicycle, and the middle & high school students won Samsung Galaxy tablet computers.

The year-end festivities continued with a round-robin of activities around the school yard that included a barbecue.  The four activities were soccer, tug of war, capture the flag, and Inuit games.  I supervised the high school group and took photographs at the same time.

High school tug-of-war.

The high school students enjoyed the tug of war and Inuit games the most.  Although, somewhere in between, someone introduced a jump rope into the mix and the students took turns trying to outlast one another.  The students somehow convinced me to try the jump rope.  I didn’t last long.  I haven’t used a jump rope since middle school . . . I think.

            

Kids playing tug-of-war.

Inuksuk target.

The main Inuit game was using rocks to hit a wooden Inuksuk target a few feet away.  I did my best but only got close to the target.  The students on the other hand managed to hit the target a few times.

            

The barbecue menu consisted of hot dogs, burgers, and juice boxes.  Three teachers ran the station with the assistance of a few students.  There was plenty of food for everyone.  I ate enough so that I wouldn’t have to worry about dinner that evening.

            

Everyone was dismissed at 3:00pm.  The students wished me a happy & safe summer.  I said the same thing to them.  The teachers would come back to school the next day to finish the clean up before being dismissed for the summer.  I also cleaned & tidied my place before flying down south.  A series of summer adventures awaited me.

            

As always, I’m going to be taking a break from my blogging duties for the next 2 months.  I’ll be back in action in August.  Until then, feel free to read my previous posts.   

High School Graduation (2018)

June 1, 2018.  High School Graduation.

            

Congratulations Graduates!

Grades 7 – 12 students & teachers descended on the community hall with loads of decorations and banquet supplies to turn the building into a place of celebration.  Inuujaq School was graduating six senior students this year.  It took the morning & afternoon of June 1 to get the entire place ready.  I was able to borrow Frank’s truck for the day, making it easier to transport everything from the school to the community hall.  Balloons were blown up, tied, & hung, tables & chairs were arranged for the 6pm banquet, congratulatory posters were taped to the walls, and the stage & walls were adorned with purple & silver curtains.  The only thing left to do was get the food ready.

            

I went home at the end of the school day, showered, changed into a suit, and brought the three bowls of salad I prepared to the community hall.  The salad dressing bottles were in my backpack.  I wore black, my favourite colour, but I had a purple tie to match decorations.  The grad banquet was reserved for the graduates, their families, teaching staff, District Education Authority (DEA) members, elders, and special guests.  Everyone was wearing formal attire.  The food & beverages were laid out on four large tables.  An elder blessed the food and banquet got under way.

            

Banquet line.

My meal.

There was a lot of food to choose & consume.  I had wanted to fast the entire day but my stomach growled at me all morning that I was forced to silence it with a light lunch.  Regardless, I did enjoy a good meal that satisfied my appetite.  The dinner lasted an hour.  At 7pm, everyone helped to clear the tables, collapse the tables, and rearrange the chairs so they faced the stage.  Just before the hall began to fill with members of the public, a student convinced me & and four other teachers to pose for a group photo. 

            

Ceremony program.

The ceremony began at 8pm.  The audience stood and cheered as the six graduates, dressed in purple gowns, were led into the hall by an RCMP officer.  The procession walked along a red carpet covered in stars.  The graduates took their seats on the stage, front & centre.  Geela, the emcee, welcomed everyone to the ceremony and called on Sam Willie to say the opening prayer.  The lighting of the ceremonial qulliq (lamp) was done by Qaapik Attagutsiak, Arctic Bay’s most prominent elder. 

             

The principal of Inuujaq School continued the ceremony with his student address, congratulating the graduates for completing high school and encouraging them to give teachers college a try.  He then called each grad to receive their diploma.  They were all smiles.

            

David Akeeagok

Martha Qaunaq

The Honourable David Akeeagok, recently elected as the MLA for the Quttiktuq region, added his personal congratulations to the graduates and spoke about the importance of education in the territory.  DEA representative Martha Qaunaq spoke after Akeeagok, continuing the theme of encouraging Inuit youth to finish school and go on to better things like college & university.

            

Robyn Q. being awarded the GG Award.

Owen W. being awarded the Math &
Science Award.

The ceremony moved on to the Presentation of Awards.  There were five awards to be handed out:  Governor General’s (GG) Award, Hamlet Award, Math & Science, Fine Art, and Baffinland Iron Ore Corporation.  The principal of Inuujaq School presented the GG Award to Robyn Q.  She also won the Hamlet Award.  JF presented the Math & Science Award to Owen W. and Paulette awarded the Fine Art honour to Donathan K.  All six graduates would receive laptops from Baffinland.

            

Donathan K. speaks to the audience
about how he feels about finishing
high school.

The graduates were given the opportunity to share their thoughts on completing high school and maybe hint at what they wanted to do next.  Then their parents & relatives were invited to the stage to say a few words.

            

High School teacher & Grad Coordinator Paulette finished the ceremony by thanking the sponsors, Grad committee members, and the people of Arctic Bay for coming to the ceremony.  The graduates were led out of the hall by the RCMP officer while popular music played.  A rope was pulled and bunch of balloons slowly fell down towards the floor as the grads walked by.

            

The last part of the ceremony was the graduates standing around the cake for photographs.  The cake was made by JF.  Once all the photographs were taken, the cake was cut into equal pieces and devoured by the grads & everyone else.

            

The graduates did get one more chance to “walk down Victory Lane”.  On June 4, near the end of the school day, the entire student body lined the main hallway of the school and cheered as the graduates were led down the hall by a student playing an Inuit drum.  The grads walked from one end to the other and then back.    You could tell they enjoyed the attention.  The act also showed the younger students what to expect when they finish high school.       

Spring Camp 2018

           

Warning: this post may contain pictures that some viewers may find graphic.

Inuujaq School’s annual Spring Camp occurred during the last week of May.  I barely had time to unpack, shower, rest, and launder my clothes after Operation Spring Fix 18.  As soon I came off the land, I was right back out.  The situation reminded me of that scene in The Godfather Part III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”  I’m not complaining.  I like being out on the land. 

            

The first day of camp was Monday, May 28.  I left my formal attire at home and wore more casual clothing.  A shirt, tie, and dress pants would be very uncomfortable out on the land.  High school students & teachers were heading out on the first day to set the camp site.  They carried the food supplies down to the shoreline where the convoy of skidoos & qamutiks were waiting.  Once all the necessary supplies were packed into the qamutiks, everyone found seats on the qamutiks and skidoos.  Numerous skidoo engines roared to life and the convoy was moving towards the south.

            

I followed the convoy at a slow pace.  I could have easily overtaken everyone because I wasn’t pulling a sled, but I wasn’t sure where we were going, so I let the elders lead the way.  We ended up at last year’s camping site.  I parked my skidoo closer to the shoreline.  The qamutiks were also brought up to the shoreline to make it easier unloading supplies.  Three tents had already been set up the day before.  The students immediately went to work setting up the remaining tents.  The camp was fully operational after an hour of hard work.

           

I explored our surroundings and took pictures of the camp.  There were ten tents in total.  The weather was overcast and a little gloomy.    

            

The highlight of the day was the evening seal hunt.  The elders took the high school boys several kilometres out into Adam’s Sound to look for seals.  We drove in crisscrossing patterns, scanning the flat ice for holes.  The elders stopped several times and poked the ice with long sticks, testing the thickness.  If the sticks easily went through the ice, there may be a seal hole underneath.

            

Six hunters, one skidoo.

We did find plenty of breathing holes and left the high school students standing over them with niksiks & harpoons.  The skidoos drove around the perimeter, trying to convince any seals under the ice that their human predators were gone, and it was safe to surface for air.  Unfortunately, our efforts did not work . . . for a while.  In the distance, I saw an elder’s hand waving to everyone to come over.  Everyone was picked up and brought over to the breathing hole next to the excited elder.  Several high school students helped him pull out a seal he managed to harpoon.  The breathing hole was covered in blood.  The seal was tied to a qamutik and brought back to the camp.

               

The seal was skinned and the meat was consumed.  The fur was left out on the ice the next day to dry out while the intestines lay in a separate pile, waiting to be consumed by hungry birds.  Breakfast for us humans consisted of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon.

A convoy of eight skidoos & qamutiks left for Arctic Bay, tasked with picking up & bringing back the middle school students and teachers.  Several high school students went as well.   Senior students were only required to stay overnight and Tuesday morning.  Of course, some students were granted permission to stay at the camp to assist the elders. 

            

Middle school arrived at 9:30am.  They all looked very excited to be outside.  Many greetings were exchanged.  The elders had prepared snacks for everyone: hot dogs, soup, and bannock.

            

Snack Time.

The middle school students & teachers were taken out seal hunting soon after the snacks were consumed.  I joined in again, hoping to see another successful catch.  We did go back to the holes that were found on Monday but we didn’t stay long.  The elders wanted to explore new areas. 

We proceeded to drive deep into Adam’s Sound.  The convoy spread out in a line formation, driving at a steady speed.  I drove near the middle of the line.  The scene reminded me of the 2015 film, Mad Max: Fury Road.  I wish I had a GoPro camera strapped to my head to record the impressive sight.  We drove over two cracks forming in the ice.  They weren’t wide enough to be of concern.  The driving continued for some time.  We even passed Qajuutinnguat, a small isolated fishing area, 33km to the southeast of Arctic Bay.  I quickly broke off from the convoy and drove to the place to mark it on my GPS.  The last time I was here was in May 2015 with the cadets.

A Polaris skidoo driven by a high school
student.  Yes, it works.

We stopped a few times and examined a few seal holes but we didn’t catch anything.  The convoy turned around and headed back towards the camp site.  I was glad that I refueled my skidoo and 3-gallon gas tank the day before.  I stayed with the convoy for another two hours, looking for seal holes & revisiting the old ones.  We followed the same routines as the day before, dropping off students at certain holes and leaving them with a harpoon.  They would be picked up after some time and then transported to another location.  By the time I left, the catch was still at zero.  Maybe their luck turned after I returned to Arctic Bay in the late afternoon.

Overall, this year’s spring camp was good.  I did much more driving than the previous years and actually saw a seal being caught.  And the weather was better & brighter on Tuesday.  Perhaps I’ll catch a seal all by myself next year.