Year End Festivities (2019)

The month of June has arrived and that means a few things.  For starters, warmer weather.  A lot of snow has melted in and around town but more remains in the mountains.  They should be gone by the end of the month.  The melting of the ice is really noticeable due to the appearance of large puddles/pools of water.  People still travel on the ice by skidoo but they have to be very careful because there may not be ice beneath those large puddles/pools.  There may be bottomless pits instead.  I’ve heard a few stories of people losing their skidoos because they tried water skipping and the machines didn’t make it across. 

My skidoo is off the ice and safely secured at my place.  I cringed when I drove it up there because I had to drive over dirt and gravel.  Thankfully, the track was not damaged.  I don’t drive my skidoo in June because of the lack of snow and I’m not confident on the melting ice. 

         

June also signals the end of the school year.  Final exams came & went, and I was able to correct them with ease, thanks to my secret weapons: answer keys.  I was also able to complete my report cards on time.  My Grade 12 Social Studies students did their project presentations and a few of them will pass the course.  (The project is a mandatory component for getting the course credits).  Others will have to go back, make some corrections, and present again in the fall.  They won’t have to redo the class work. 

Principal photography on the Grade 10 English film project is finished.  We filmed all that we could.  I congratulated my students on a job well done and told them the first rough cut of the film would be shown in October.  They commented that they had a lot of fun “running around” the school with a camera.  They asked me if I would be making short films every year?  I replied that it would mostly depend on the students in the class.  I won’t be forcing them if they’re not interested.

The year end festivities began on the morning of June 5.  The teachers & students were divided into teams and had to complete a scavenger hunt in a given amount of time.  This was probably the only time we were allowed to run in the hallways.  The teams used large boxes to collect the required items.  Everyone submitted their collections to the office.  The winners would be announced in the afternoon.

The Year End Assembly was held in the gym after lunch.  The assembly began with the Kindergarten Graduation.  Twenty-four students were graduating to Grade 1.  A large collage of their faces was pasted on the far side of the gym.  In front of them were 24 black fold out chairs.  The young graduates sat at the front, wearing blue graduation gowns & caps.  The kindergarten teacher called up each student individually to receive a diploma and to have their photograph taken.  They then took a seat on a fold out chair.  The Vice Principal congratulated the kindergarteners for their achievements and wished them the best in Grade 1.

The winners of the scavenger hunt were announced by Geela, a student support assistant (SSA).  Unfortunately, my team didn’t win.  The team that did win was led by the Grade 2 teacher.  They received gift certificates to the local Co-op. 

Grade 1 best attenders.

Me calling out the high school names.

The last part of the assembly was the Attendance Awards.  Students who achieved perfect attendance for the month of May were called up by grades to receive congratulatory certificates.  I was given the honour of calling the high school students.  Their names were also entered into the final draw for the year end prizes.  Three names were drawn from a large recycled coffee can.  Why three?  One elementary, one middle school, and one high school.  The can contained names of students who achieved perfect attendance at some point during the school year.  The chosen elementary student was awarded a bicycle.  The middle & high school students were awarded iPads.

A Baffinland representative was in attendance to handover the laptops that were promised to the two graduates.  The graduates really appreciated their gifts. 

The festivities continued on June 6, the last day of the 2018-19 school year.  The morning was spent partially cleaning classrooms.  My students went through their binders and decided what they wanted to keep and what they wanted to throw out.  I moved my learning materials into their assigned Bankers boxes.  There would be plenty of time to do a more thorough cleanup on June 7.

High school student spins a dodge ball. 

Capture the Flag.

An afternoon of outdoor round-robin activities was organized by the staff for students.  The activities were a mix of sports, Inuit games, and everybody’s favourite, a barbecue (BBQ).  The BBQ featured hot dogs, burgers, condiments, and juice boxes.  Several high school students helped prepare the food.  I supervised the high school students going from activity to activity.  There were six activities if you included the BBQ.  When the school bell rang at 3pm, the students were free for two months.  I wished my students a well-deserved summer.  I stayed behind and helped cleanup the BBQ area. 

I only ate one hot dog & one hamburger because there was still the year end potluck for staff.  I brought cheese, crackers, and grapes.  Inuujaq School staff gathered in the staff room to enjoy all the snacks and breathe sighs of relief that we made it to the end.  We talked about our summer plans.  I would be travelling to a few places again because, why not?  (More on that in a future post).

The staff spent June 7 cleaning the school.  I turned in my school keys and wished everyone a happy summer.  I spent the weekend cleaning my place and packing for my vacation.  I flew down south on June 9.

Well, here we are again.  Another school year is done.  The clock is ticking fast because I only have two months to do whatever I want.  I already have a few things lined up so I’m going to be pretty busy.  This is the last summer of the 2010s so I need to enjoy it as much as possible.  I’ll be taking a break from my blogging duties but will return in early August with an update.  In the meantime, you can go back and revisit one or more of the 290 posts I’ve written about Arctic Bay since 2013.

See you all in August!