A New Year & Career Fair

Source: 123RF.com

Happy New Year everyone!  I can’t believe it’s 2019!  The decade is almost over!  Time certainly flies when you’re not looking.  Sorry about the long wait but a lot of things were happening that prevented me from publishing a new post until now.

            

My Christmas vacation was brief but I did get to see family & friends.  I also shopped at various stores, buying supplies for the next six months.  I always look like I’m travelling heavy on the way down because I bring large suitcases.  However, I pack light when flying south for Christmas, but heavy when flying north.  I save money on cargo & postage fees.

            

Iqaluit.

Iqaluit.

My frequent travels in and out of Nunavut has led me to notice that Iqaluit is becoming more structurally colourful.  The buildings are painted in a variety of bright colours, most likely so that you can see them during a blizzard.  From the sky, the large town looks like it’s being built with large Lego blocks, or someone sprinkled Skittles on white snow. 

            

I followed through with my promise to my Grade 10 English students and uploaded our short film, “Mr. Putugu’s Classroom” to the school’s Facebook page.  It didn’t take long for the video to gain an audience.  The reception was positive and the film was shared several times by the viewers.  I was glad that all our hard work had paid off.  When I came back to Arctic Bay after the break, several of my students told me about the local popularity of the video.  I also wondered if the video would become known to CBC News North in the near future?  If so, maybe they will want to do a news story about our efforts?  Only time will tell.

            

A new year means a new semester, classes, and roster of students to teach.  I will be teaching four classes this semester: Grades 10 – 12 Social Studies, and Grade 10 English.  Unfortunately, I won’t be teaching beginner guitar.  Maybe my English students this semester will also want to make a short film?  I’ll ask them when we are close to starting the media literacy unit. 

It’s been several years since I taught Grade 12 Social Studies but I’m not too concerned.  I am familiar with the required history topics and can always use the internet for research.  The only area of concern is the final project.  The final project replaces the final exam and demands a lot of effort from the students.  I’ll be introducing the project early in the semester so that the students can start thinking about what topic they want to investigate.   

A career fair was held at Inuujaq School on January 21.  Several organizations took over the gym for the day to talk to students and members of the public about job opportunities in Nunavut.  It’s been quite a long time since a career fair was held in Arctic Bay.  When I asked my students about it, the only one they could remember was in 2007!  I bet the ridiculously expensive airfare prevents companies from travelling to the remote communities.  The organizations at this year’s fair were: Baffinland, Fisheries & Oceans Canada, Parks Canada, Government of Nunavut, Service Canada, Skills Canada, Polar Knowledge Canada, Qikiqtani Inuit Association, and the Inuit Mentorship Program.  That’s not as many as there were in 2007 but it’s better than one.

Free stuff giveaway.

Tables, chairs, and banners lined the gym walls.  Information documents, pamphlets, and giveaway items sat organized on the tables.  There were also two tables with snacks and bottled water.  In the middle of the gym laid a very large circumpolar map of the north.  The map belongs to Polar Knowledge Canada.  The organization also had smaller circumpolar maps of the north & south poles to hand out to people.  To maintain student interest, the organizers of the career fair created a scavenger hunt.  Students would receive a pamphlet containing questions.  Finding the correct answers required visiting all the tables and talking to the presenters.  Students who collected all the correct answers would get a prize of some sort.

The high school students went down to the gym in the afternoon.  The presenters were there waiting for them.  The students received their question pamphlets & pencils at the door.  They fanned out, searching for answers.  I casually walked around the gym, taking pictures of the displays.  I was mostly drawn to the large map on the floor.  I always had an interest in maps & geography.  Quite a few students were also drawn to the large map.  At least eight of them spent a good 20 minutes looking it over, especially the areas around Arctic Bay.  I think they were discussing their past, present, and future hunting/camping trips. 

I did stop and listen to some of the presenters.  There was a lot of information to take in.  I did ask the Polar Knowledge people if there’s been an update on the opening of the new research facility in Cambridge Bay?  The official opening ceremony has been delayed numerous times.  They said even they don’t know when the ceremony will happen because of the upcoming federal election in October.  They are hoping it will happen soon.  For the amount of money the government has spent on constructing that research facility, the opening ceremony better happen soon.  Otherwise, the state-of-the-art building will become a white elephant.

I briefly returned to the gym after school to take a few more pictures and video clips.  From what I observed, the fair was quite popular.  I’m glad such an event occurred because living in an isolated community subtly tells its residents that they’re not many career choices available.  That is not true. 

I was also glad the organizers prepared a scavenger hunt for students.  Without that incentive, the students would have been in and out in minutes.  The only things I brought back to my classroom were the two circumpolar maps.  They will be displayed in my classroom.