High School Graduation of 2019

2019 Inuujaq School.

May 31 was a very special day for two high school students.  They were graduating!  They had been looking forward to this day for quite some time and were happy it finally arrived.

            

The planning and preparation of the ceremony began months in advance.  The Graduation Committee (GC) fundraised by holding dances & movie nights at the community hall on Fridays & Saturdays.  The money was used to purchase: graduation gowns, decorations, and food.  I contributed eight pictures of the graduates to be used in congratulatory posters.  The grads chose their gown colours, graduation song, and prepared written thank you speeches for the ceremony.

            

Many high school students helped decorate the community hall on May 31.  I was able to secure a pickup truck to bring the decorations and kitchenware.  The Grade 9 students helped me load all the stuff onto the truck.  They quickly learned that kitchenware (plates, cups, utensils) are very heavy to lift.  The place was ready for a celebration after many hours of hard work.  Several balloons were lost to popping but that was expected.

            

The first event of the night was the Graduation Dinner (GD).  It’s better to start the festivities with a meal.  The GD is an invitation-only event.  Obviously, the graduates are allowed to attend, can invite their family, and bring a date.  School staff and local District Education Authority (DEA) members are also invited and they’re allowed to bring a plus one.  The area in front of the stage was set up as a dining room.  There were four lines of decorated tables and chairs.  The buffet tables were located on the right side.  Everyone showed up in their best dressed clothing.

            

The dinner began at 6:00pm.  The head of the GC, Paulette, welcomed everyone and called upon Rev. Leah May to bless the food.  Once the food was blessed, everyone was free to line up, grab a plate, and dig in.  I got in line at the end.  There was still a lot of food when I got there.  It’ll take me too long to list all the choices so I’ll let the pictures do the talking.  I filled my plate with delicious food and enjoyed consuming it.  The dinner was finished by 7pm.

            

Leftover food.

Everyone helped with the cleanup.  We only had an hour to put everything away and replace the tables with chairs for the audience.  All the leftover food was moved into the main foyer.  There was a lot of it.  Anyone was welcome to the leftovers and even take some home.  It’s better than throwing it all away.  I quickly drove to the Co-op and bought paper plates, plastic utensils, and tinfoil, so that people would be able to take the food home if they chose to.  (I used the GC’s Co-op account to make the purchase).  That’s one thing the stores in this town should consider selling: disposable food boxes (in various sizes).  There are enough “food-included” events happening in this town to warrant their availability.

            

The ceremony began at 8pm.  The grads were marched in by the local RCMP while the song “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons played over loudspeakers.  The crowd applauded & cheered as the grads walked on stage and took their seats, front and centre.  Their parents sat behind them. 

High School Grads & Emcees.

Martha Q. lights the Ceremonial Qulliq.

Vice Principal.

Geela & Piuyuq acted as emcees.  They welcomed & thanked everyone for attending the ceremony.  Martha Q. lit the Ceremonial Qulliq to signal the official start of the proceedings.  Everyone stood for the opening prayer by Rev. Leah May.  The Vice Principal continued with the Opening Address.  (Unfortunately, the Principal was unable to attend the ceremony).  In his speech, he congratulated the two graduates for completing high school and encouraged them to pursue post-secondary education.  The same congratulations and encouragement were echoed by the DEA Head in their speech.

Athlete of the Year.

The ceremony moved on to the Awards section.  There were six awards to give out.  The first two didn’t go to the graduates but to two high school senior students.  These were the Volunteer of the Year (VotY) & Athlete of the Year (AotY).  The reason why these awards were given out at this ceremony was because there was no time at the Year End Assembly in June.  (More on that in a future post).  The program was already full.  The VotY was Eli Q.T. and the AotY was Crystal E.

Mayor Frank May addressing the graduates.

The next award was the Math & Science Award and it went to Kane Q.T., one of the high school graduates.  The award was presented by the Vice Principal.  Mayor Frank May took over to present both graduates with the Hamlet Award.  Before presenting the awards, he talked about the graduates being involved in cadets and how the program taught & molded them into leaders.  He also included stories of him teaching & mentoring the two grads in cadets.  The other graduate is Elvina N.

Meena O. of Baffinland.

Meena O., the Arctic Bay Baffinland Representative, continued the ceremony by announcing that the company would give the grads laptop computers as congratulatory gifts.  The laptops were also a big incentive to pursue post-secondary education.  I wish my high school had done something similar when I graduated.

Elvina N. receiving the GG Award.

The final award was the Governor General’s Award.  The recipient receives a framed certificate and the Governor General’s coin.  This year’s recipient was Elvina N.  She was all smiles after her name was announced.  She received her certificate from Paulette and posed for a photograph.

The ceremony got a little personal by giving the graduates and their parents the opportunity to say a few words.  The graduates kept their speeches short & to the point.  They thanked the teachers, parents, and friends for encouraging them to not give up.  A few parents came up to the podium and said similar things.

The best was saved for last.  The Vice Principal called up the two graduates to receive their high school diplomas and to move the tassels on their graduation caps from right to left.  The crowd applauded & cheered.

Local RCMP.

The emcees read a long Thank You list of names.  Many people are involved in organizing and carrying out a ‘perfect’ graduation ceremony.  The final act of the ceremony was watching the graduates walk off the stage and down the red carpet.  The song "Thunder" was played again.  Kane pulled a string and a cloud of balloons descended from the ceiling.  Everyone gave Elvina & Kane a standing ovation.  High school was officially behind them.  They stood at the back of the hall and received handshakes from guests.  I personally congratulated them and shook their hands.

The Grad Cake was brought out and the two grads stood behind it.  They held a cutting knife while people snapped pictures.  A line quickly formed after the photographs were taken.  The cake must have been really good because it disappeared in a matter of minutes.  The festivities would continue with an evening dance.  I busied myself with getting all the school decorations & kitchen supplies back to school.  I was glad several teachers helped me.  I then returned the borrowed truck and walked home.

            

Another successful high school graduation.  I wish my two former students & cadets all the best in their future endeavours.