To New Beginnings

I returned to Arctic Bay earlier than before to start my new job as Vice Principal of Inuujaq School.  Surprise!  No more acting.  I decided to continue in school administration and applied for the job over the summer.  The interview went well, and I was offered the position.  I accepted and here I am.  I will still be the high school music teacher.    

School administrators are required to return to work about a week before teachers and I quickly found out why.  There is plenty of work to do before the new school year begins.  I set up the Vice Principal’s office just the way I liked it and then got to work preparing staff binders.  The binders contain important information about school operations, rules, calendars, schedules, events, and due dates, just to name a few.  Preparing these binders alone took several days because of photocopying and organization.  There were other things in the office that needed to be done, but I won’t bore you with them.  I also had to prepare my high school drum class. 

Teachers & staff returned to school on Monday, August 12.  There were lots of greetings in the hallways.  The principal & I held the first staff meeting of the year in the morning, welcoming the staff, outlining the first few weeks of school, going through the staff binders I prepared, and what was expected of us from the school board.  The meeting took up the entire morning.  Staff then had the afternoon to prepare their classrooms.   

The next two days were also devoted to preparing for the upcoming start of the school year.  One day is never enough.  By the end of Wednesday, Inuujaq School was ready.

The first day for students was Thursday, August 15.  Staff arrived very early to prepare the food for the Welcome Back Assembly & Breakfast.  The Home Economics Room, aka the kitchen, was full of activity.  Various fruits and meats were cut into pieces and placed in large bowls.  The bowls were brought to the gym, along with juice boxes, granola bars, yogurt tubes, tea, coffee, & paper plates.  The gym was set up the day before.  Chairs lined the walls, a row of tables covered in cloths sat at the front, and a speaker system was also set.  Staff equipped themselves with non-latex gloves and began dividing the food onto paper plates.  You don’t want to keep the audience waiting during breakfast.  Juice boxes were arranged on a large side table.  We prepared as many plates as possible until the first school bell of the 2024-2025 school year rang at 8:35am.

Classes were called down to the gym at 9am.  Parents & guardians also arrived to attend the assembly & breakfast.  The assembly began 15 minutes later.

The principal welcomed everyone to the new school year and asked all staff to come to the front, introduce themselves, and state their title (job).  The food was blessed by an Elder after staff introductions, and then the staff began distributing the prepared plates & juice boxes.  Breakfast lasted about 35 minutes.  Teachers we then instructed to take their students back to class.  Parents & guardians were thanked were being in attendance.  High school students stayed behind to clean the gym.

The transition from acting vice principal to vice principal went smoothly for me.  I was acting vice principal for 4 months before the summer so that gave me plenty of time to see & experience working in school administration.  The transition from full time teacher to almost full-time vice principal was very noticeable.  The most being duties, routines, and responsibilities.  Communication plays a big role because I’ve been answering lots of emails, answering phones, distributing schedules, posting announcements online, and speaking to staff, students, parents, guardians, and superintendents.  I’m glad I’m organized, otherwise I’d be drowning in paperwork.

Unfortunately, being a vice principal means I’ll have to deal with disciplinary issues with students.  It’s just part of the job.  I hope there won’t be too many.

Inuujaq School staff held a retirement party for the dental hygienist that had been practicing in the community for more than 3 decades.  She had her own room in the school to operate her clinic.  The party was held near the end of August.  The staff gave her a card and a gift.  She thanked everyone for the gifts and for making her feel welcome from the beginning.  She & the staff enjoyed a tasty assortment of snacks.  Thank you for your many years of service!