PD Week 2019 – Part 1

In Nunavut, the middle of February is Professional Development (PD) Week for all teachers.  (It’s also been called Professional Improvement (PI) Week).  Students get a week off school while teachers improve and/or learn new teaching skills & abilities to use in their classrooms.  Your PD may be completed in or outside the community you teach.  Teachers must complete an online application process in order to receive permission to pursue what they want.  The process is more detailed and scrutinized if you want to do PD outside your community, territory, and country.  For me this year, I was travelling to another territory.

            

In the fall of 2018, I was going through my work emails and came across a PD message saying that a teacher was in contact with Arctic Response in Yellowknife and was looking to find several interested teachers to sign up for their Advanced Wilderness First Aid course.  I had previously taken a basic wilderness first aid course in 2017.  I did some research on the company and exchanged several emails with the liaison teacher before deciding to submit my name.  My first aid & wilderness survival skills could definitely use an upgrade considering I go out camping with cadets & the school.  Luck was on my side; my application was accepted. 

            

The cost of this trip would be a lot.  I did receive the maximum allotted money from the PD Fund, but it was not enough to cover the entire trip.  I already knew this but that wouldn’t stop me.  I had yet to visit Yellowknife and step foot in the Northwest Territories.  (The community you teach in determines your maximum PD money allotment).  The three largest expenditures would be: course fee, plane ticket, and hotel.  I would be in Yellowknife for a week.

            

I was the only teacher from the school travelling outside the community this year.  Everyone else would be completing their PD at the school.  My PD workload was substantially less this time because I was no longer the school’s PD Coordinator.  I had done my three years.  Now it was time for someone else to take over.

            

Yellowknife Airport

I flew down to Iqaluit for the night on February 16.  Flying to Yellowknife began in the early evening of February 17.  I spent most of the day exploring Iqaluit & eating a shawarma before heading over to the airport.  The plane was a Summit Air AVRO RJ85 jet, designed to transport 90 passengers.  The plane landed in Rankin Inlet before continuing on to Yellowknife.  The time was 8:45pm when I walked into the Yellowknife terminal.

            

Wild Republic gift store at the Yellowknife
Airport.

A large stuffed polar bear chasing a seal diving into an ice hole greeted me.  The large display sat in the middle of the terminal on top of the baggage carousel.  There was also a large mural of an inuksuk hanging on a wall.  I grabbed my luggage and hailed a taxi to my hotel.  I would be staying at Capital Suites. 

           

           

I woke up bright and early on February 18.  The course was set to begin at 9am so I needed to be there on time.  I thought about getting a taxi but I decided to get some exercise by walking.  I left the hotel at 8am and walked along Franklin Avenue and then turned right onto Old Airport Road.  Walking to Arctic Response gave me the opportunity to get acquainted with my surroundings.  I mentally noted the locations of various stores, Tim Hortons, and the old Stanton Hospital.  I arrived at 9am.

            

Arctic Response has many training locations in the territories and a few in the provinces.  They offer a variety of safety courses in first aid, in the field, industry, and driver.  They are also certified to train new instructors.

           

I took my seat in a large classroom.  There were five other teachers in the room.  They were based in: Yellowknife, Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit, and Arviat.  The instructor walked in and introduced himself.  We all did the same.  The course officially began.

            

Our course textbook was the Outdoor Medical Emergency Handbook: Second Edition.  We were advised to take notes and pay attention because there would be a final exam at the end and we would be graded through various simulated scenarios.  I’m glad I came prepared.

            

The first day of the course was a review of what we already knew.  All of us had taken a first aid course of some kind but the instructor wanted everyone to be on the same level before starting the new material.  We reviewed the first several chapters of the red book and practiced CPR on dummies.  We also learned & discussed what kind of emergency supplies to bring while out on the land.  Obviously, these depended on the terrain and if you knew how to use the equipment.  As the instructor put it, “If you don’t know how to use something, why bring it?  It’s just a waste of space.”

            

Class finished at 4pm.  The timings would remain the same until Friday.  Classes would be taught in two blocks with a one-hour lunch break in between.  I took my time walking back to the hotel, taking pictures of the surrounding landscape.  A brand-new hospital was being built to replace the old Stanton Hospital and Frame Lake was completely frozen.  A full moon hung in the cloudy sky.  I stopped by the large Co-op store to buy something for dinner.  I reviewed my notes when I got back to the hotel.  

Downtown Yellowknife.

To Be Continued . . .