Year End Activities (2022)

The last two days of school, June 6 & 7, were spent celebrating the end of the academic year.  High School final exams & report cards were finished on time.  Everyone breathed sighs of relief.  We made it to the Finish Line.

The festivities began in the afternoon on June 6 with Kindergarten Graduation.  Everyone assembled in the gym to see and congratulate the young students for completing kindergarten.  The graduates wore blue gowns with matching hats and facemasks.  (Everyone wore facemasks).

The kindergarten teacher called each of her students individually to receive their certificate, an applause from the audience, and a picture with their teacher.  The kindergarteners remained in their seats as the assembly moved on to the best student attendance awards.

The names of the best attending students were entered into draws for prizes.  To keep the draws fair, the names were organized into three groups: elementary, middle, and high school.  The winning elementary student won a bicycle and the middle & high school students won tablet computers.

The principal called three staff members to the front to receive thank you gifts for their hard work and contributions to the school.  A custodian was retiring, one of the student support assistants was leaving to attend college, and the gym teacher was leaving for a teaching job in another territory.  The principal wished them all luck in their future endeavours. 

The assembly came to an end and everyone returned to their classes.  The kindergarten class remained behind so that their parents & guardians could take photographs.  They were all smiling . . . even though their mouths were covered.

Students & teachers spent the morning of June 7 cleaning their classrooms and picking up garbage around the playground.  The snow in town had melted the previous week, revealing rocks, brown ground, and discarded litter.  Armed with plastic gloves and black garbage bags, everyone picked up as much garbage as they could before lunch.  We were briefly interrupted by the sound of a chartered helicopter flying towards the airport, carrying a large sphere attached to a long cable.  We later found out the sphere is used to store gasoline. 

Apparently, a rich family from the south had come to Arctic Bay to camp at the floe edge to the north of the community.  Since they had money to burn, they chartered a helicopter to airlift supplies.  The guides & staff of Arctic Bay Adventures must have made a lot of money from these latest clients.

The Events Committee organized an afternoon round-robin of activities & BBQ.  We used last year’s plan as a model but changed a few things.  For starters, we added a BBQ station.  We didn’t have that in 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions.  We kept a few games, added some new ones, and placed them in suitable areas around the school.  We had enough staff to run the stations and supervise students. 

There were seven stations this year.  Food, Soccer, Beanbag Toss, Nakataq, Obstacle Course, Skipping Rope, and Inuit Games.  (Nakataq is where you try to hit a small rock on top of an inuksuk using another small rock).  I was put in charge of making sure everything ran smoothly.  And, of course, I appointed myself as the school’s photographer.

The seven groups were given 15 minutes for each station.  Several high school students manned the BBQ station and prepared the hot dogs & hamburgers.  Everyone appeared to be having a good time.  The weather was sunny, clear, and warm.  Even though the temperature was a just few degrees above 0 (Celsius), everyone was sweating.

The round-robin finished at 3:30pm.  Everything was brought inside, and students were dismissed for summer vacation.  My students wished me a safe & happy summer and I did the same in return.  They were free until mid-August.

June 8 was the last day for staff.  We spent most of the day cleaning our classrooms and filing report cards.  A year-end potluck lunch was held in the Home Ec room.  The principal did a short congratulatory speech and a teacher blessed the food.  People lined up while I took a few photographs of the event.  There was a lot of food to sample. 

We were allowed to leave as early as the mid-afternoon.  Some southern teachers would be flying out the very next day.  I chose to stay an extra day.  I locked my classroom and surrendered my keys to the main office.  I said my goodbyes to the remaining staff and walked home.  My summer vacation officially started.

The chartered helicopter was sitting on the gravel tarmac at the airport when I arrived on June 10.  There was also a skidoo sitting on top of a metal cart.  Either the skidoo was going to be airlifted to the floe edge, or it was brought back from the floe edge.  The large gas sphere container I mentioned earlier sat on the far side of the tarmac near the taxiway to the runway.

The Canadian North plane landed at 10:50am.  It parked in front of the terminal building.  A very tall white ladder was wheeled out to the plane’s tail.  A Canadian North employee walked to the top of the ladder and sprayed the tail with a small hose.  It looked like aircraft de-icing fluid.  When the job was complete, the ladder was removed, baggage was loaded, and passengers were granted permission to board.  The plane took off a few minutes later.

To make a long story short, I safely made it down south for the summer.  I only have 8 short weeks to enjoy my break before it’s time to return to work.  I already have a few activities lined up, which you will read about in August.  Until then, as always, I’ll be taking a break from my blogging duties.

Have a great summer!