A Half-Normal End

Basler BT-67. Kenn Borek Air.

The last day of cadets was June 2.  The cadets played sports & games in the gym; a fun way to finish the regular training year.  I apologized for not being allowed to organize a year end Field Training eXercise (FTX) in May.  There’s always next year.  The Department of National Defence also made the difficult decision to cancel all summer camps for the upcoming summer.  When will COVID-19 finally go away?     

High school final exams came and went without any issues.  The exams were written across three days.  My Social Studies students wrote exams and my guitar students completed a final performance test.  Report cards were also completed on time.

Kindergarten Graduation occurred on June 3, but only the parents & guardians of the students were allowed to attend.  The ceremony was held in the classroom.  I wasn’t there, but I can safely assume the students were happy to be moving on to Grade 1.  The same could be said for the parents & guardians. 

At the beginning of June, a Basler BT-67 plane, operated by Kenn Borek Air, regularly flew into Arctic Bay from Resolute to deliver 45-gallon barrels of gasoline.  Apparently, we had run out of gas for vehicles.  Or, the amount of gas left in the silos were dangerously low.

There are 5 large white gas silos at the Gas Station, but not all of them are for vehicles.  I think one is filled with fuel for airplanes.  I managed to photograph the BT-67 on June 4 as it was coming in to land.  I’m not sure how long the airlift operation will last, but it may be for a while.  The Government of Nunavut needs to draw up plans to build another gas silo, or two, otherwise, we may be in the same situation next year.  The people of Arctic Bay don’t want to end up in a Mad Max scenario.

Thank you, Resolute Bay & Kenn Borek Air, for giving us gas!

Teachers & students enjoyed a day of year-end activities on June 4.  The only downside was that we weren’t allowed to have a barbecue.

The festivities began in the late morning with an outdoor garbage cleanup around the school.  The snow melted a few weeks earlier, revealing a lot of discarded items on the ground.  Latex gloves and garbage bags were given out.  The cleanup lasted 35 minutes.  The land around the school looked more pristine.

The last hour of the day was devoted to a round robin of games.  The Events Committee organized 7 games and divided the student-body into 7 groups.  Half of the teachers would run the stations and the other half would supervise the groups.  High school students could join the groups or help the teachers running the stations.  The 7 activities were: GameX (dodgeball variant), Soccer, Relay Race, Jump Rope, Capture The Flag, Nakataq, and Cat & Mouse.

I supervised Nakataq.  It’s a throwing game where you try to knock a small rock off the top of an inuksuk.  I built 4 inuksuks behind the gym using large rocks.  The students used bean bags instead of rocks because I didn’t want the outdoor gym wall to be damaged.

The round robin began at 2:35pm.  Groups spent 10 minutes at each station.  I helped the students by passing back the bean bags they threw.  Everyone had fun.

The last day of school for students was Monday, June 7.  Students spent the day helping teachers clean their classrooms and deciding what to do with their school work.  High school students cleaned out their lockers.  Report cards were picked up and mailed out.  When the clock struck 3:35pm, the students were free until mid-August.  I wished them a safe & happy summer.

Tuesday, June 8 was the last day for teachers.  We spent most of the day making sure our classrooms were clean and all the furniture was moved to one corner.  Our floors would be cleaned over the summer.

A year end pizza & Nanaimo bar party was held in the Staff Room at 2pm.  The staff used this opportunity to thank and present parting gifts to the high school art teacher who was retiring after 14 years in Arctic Bay.  She received an ulu and a sewn purse bag.  She shared a few stories of her time in the community, thanked everyone for welcoming & supporting her, and vowed to come back for a visit when the time was right.

At the end of the presentation and short speeches, someone asked, “Who’ll be the most senior southerner in August?”  There was a short pause in the air and then everyone looked at me.  They were right.  I never thought that would happen.  I’ve only taught in Arctic Bay for 8 & a half years, but in the new school year, I’ll be the southerner with the most teaching experience in Inuujaq School.  I’ll have to be ready to answer orientation questions from new southern hires.  Maybe I’ll be like the art teacher and stay in Arctic Bay for 14 years.  Or, be like Frank, and stay for 33!

Everyone wished each other a safe & happy summer at the end of the party.  I locked my classroom and turned in my keys at the main office.  I would pick them up in August.

I left the community on June 10.  There were more passengers this time on the Canadian North plane.  There was only one person on the plane with me last year.  The plane flew towards Pond Inlet, passing Strathcona Sound, Baillarge Bay, and Elwin Inlet.  I was able to photograph these waterways because I was sitting on the left side of the plane.  I will use these pictures in the future to plan trips.  I want to explore Elwin Inlet because I only reached the entrance in 2020.  I’ll need to pull a qamutik packed with extra fuel cans to make the round trip.

The plane landed in Pond Inlet, picked up more passengers, and continued to Iqaluit.  The plane landed without difficulty.  I took a taxi to my brother’s apartment because I had to overnight.  I proceeded to Yummy Shawarma after dropping off my luggage.  The large beef shawarma tasted excellent.

I used the spare time I had to walk around Iqaluit on June 11.  My flight to Ottawa wasn’t until 5:25pm.  The weather was sunny & warm, but I still wore a jacket & toque.  Construction season had begun in the territorial capital.  I photographed a large residential complex being built on top of strong steel beams.  In Nunavut, buildings are suspended above the ground to avoid being damaged by permafrost.

The exterior of the Arctic College residence building, across the street from the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, was being renovated.  When I arrived in Iqaluit in 2012, it was known as the Nova Hotel.  The owners changed the name to Hotel Arctic sometime later.  The building was sold to the Qikiqtaaluk Corporation in 2017 who turned it into a residence for Arctic College students.  I still remember sitting in the hotel restaurant in 2012, the morning after I arrived in Iqaluit, thinking, “What am I doing here?  Did I make the right choice coming here to teach music at Inuksuk High School?”  Yes, I did make the right choice.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t have continued my teaching career in Arctic Bay.

I photographed a memorial to the unmarked graves found at the Kamloops Residential School in front of the Elders Centre.  The memorial contained children’s shoes, toys, dolls, and signs demanding all former residential schools be searched for unmarked graves.  Every Child Matters!

Iqaluit deep-sea port.

Construction on Iqaluit’s deep-sea port is expected to resume shortly.  I think there’s still more dredging and control demolitions to be done.  It’ll be at least another year before the port is ready to begin operations. 

The flight to Ottawa left on time and arrived in the nation’s capital without incident.  My summer vacation has begun.

I’ll be taking a break from my blogging duties until August.  You may go back and read some and/or all my previous posts.  There’re 364 to choose.  Have a safe & healthy summer and I’ll see you all in August!