The first thing I noticed upon my return to Arctic Bay was the disappearance of the French boat Vagabond. Well, I mean, the boat left the community in the summer when all the ice in the bay melted. I’m assuming the operators completed two weeks of isolation before returning to the ship. You’ll have to go to their website to see where the polar yacht is in the Arctic. I should have spoken to the French family and gotten a tour of their boat. Another time.
Inuujaq School staff were given two days to prepare for the first day of school. Everyone received their teaching schedules at the opening staff meeting. The four classes I will be teaching are: Music 10 – Drums, Grade 10 English, and Grades 10 & 11 Socials Studies. Pretty much the same batch of courses I’ve been teaching for the last several years. School Administration informed everyone that there would be no opening ceremony & breakfast this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. We couldn’t take any chances despite zero cases being reported in Arctic Bay & all of Nunavut.
Speaking of restrictions, the territory’s Department of Education has released an Opening Plan for the 2020-21 school year. It looks like the department spent quite a bit of time & resources to put the plan together because it’s spread across 11 documents. You can read all the documents here. The main thing to take from everything is the 4-Stage plan. Stage 1 is the safest while Stage 4 is the worst. All communities are starting at Stage 1. Hopefully it’ll stay that way.
I arranged my classroom, updated
& printed my course outlines, and got my teaching materials ready. Having two days for prep really helped.
The first day of school was Friday, August 14. I welcomed the students back from their extended break and went over the course outlines. I reassured them that I completed two weeks of isolation in Ottawa before returning home. The rest of the day was spent playing ice breaker games. I’m not a fan of giving out work on the first day. I am a fan of the first day of classes being on a Friday. I began teaching my courses on Monday, August 17.
Unfortunately, cadets have been postponed until October. The original plan was to restart in-person training in September, but the Department of National Defence decided to wait an extra month due to the ongoing pandemic.
COVID-19 continues to spread & infect more people all around the world. The disease has infected over 20 million people and killed 700,000. It’s most likely the numbers are actually higher. I hope the world’s scientists & researchers are closer to developing a vaccine.
The only remaining thing I can mention is the weather. Even though it still summer, the August weather feels more like autumn. This is due to cold & rain. And when there’s rain, there’s mud. Everyone is walking around with rubber boots on until the snow arrives.
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