Fishing Derby, Final Exams, & School Cleanup

While I was conquering KGVM over the Victoria Day weekend, many residents of Arctic Bay, including several Inuit teachers & students of Inuujaq School, were participating in the 14th annual Fishing Derby.  The derby is an extension of Nunavut Quest, created in 1999.  Participants aim to catch the largest fish in the hopes of getting a cash prize, the highest being $1500.  There is also a side prize for catching a fish that measures exactly 12.5 inches.  After the judging, they are free to do whatever they want with their catch. 

            

Participants can only fish at the designated lakes.  These are: Lake X, Lake Y, Iqalulik, Ijjujuarjuk, Ikipikttuarjuk, Tulukkaat, and Kuugarjuk.  Lake X is close to Arctic Bay and Lake Y is more towards Victor Bay.  The other names listed above are actually place names; the Inuit do not name bodies of water.  They reference them according to the lands they touch.  Aside from Lakes X & Y, the other lakes are quite a distance away, forcing participants to get there by skidoo.  The travel time can last several hours.

            

Andy, a middle school student at Inuujaq School receives a cash prize.

On Monday, May 21, everyone in town gathered at the community hall to look at the fish that were caught and to see which lucky competitors won a prize.  The fish were displayed at the front of the hall on a line of tables.  Most of the fish on display were Arctic char and their sizes ranged from small to large.  I can't remember who won what but I can say is that there was a lot of cheering and clapping when every winner was announced.  From the way things appeared to me, the Fishing Derby was a success.  I may try my luck at the derby next year.

            

Special thanks to Mishak Allurut for providing the background information on the Fishing Derby.

            

The last two weeks of May focused on review and final exams.  My English and Social Studies' students had to complete a two-hour written exam whereas my guitarists had a 15 minute performance exam.  The exams were written/performed in my classroom.  What came next was the great task of marking each exam and tabulating final marks.  This took some time because I had to do all the calculations with paper, pencil, and a calculator.  The last task of the academic year was logging the final marks and comments into the computer register.

            

Regarding the weather, the temperature got progressively warmer and the ground became muddier.  Basically, less snow every day.  Even though the temperature was in the minus single digits, it felt much hotter.

            

A passenger jet flies high above Arctic
Bay.

The month of May ended on a somber not with the passing of the school's Counselor.  A funeral was held in the school's gymnasium after lunch on May 31.  For the ceremony, Iga, the senior high school Inuktitut teacher, led a group of middle and high school students in the singing of a remembrance song in Inuktitut.  One of my students, Bryan, played the guitar.

            

The last week of school was devoted to spirit team activities and administrative duties for teaching staff.  The morning of June 4 saw students & teachers cleaning up the area around the school, picking up all the garbage that had been buried by snow during winter.  I chose to forgo my usual formal attire and dressed in more casual clothing.  The spirit team with the most filled garbage bags would win a prize of some kind. Unfortunately, my spirit team, Team Rabbit, didn't win.  However, we did fill quite a few garbage bags.  It was good to see the student body out in full force, doing their part to keep the land clean.  Community cleanups are common in the north.            

For the afternoon, spirit teams engaged in a round robin of games and sports.  These activities took place inside and around the school, and out in the frozen bay.  I worked at the barbecue station, serving juice to students and teachers.  There were also hot dogs, burgers, apples, and oranges.  Being a member of the BBQ Committee, I took this job seriously, making sure everyone got a drink before allowing seconds.  My firmness in following that rule earned me the nickname, 'The Juice Man' from students.  Better to be called that than 'The Juice Nazi'- "No juice for you!"  In the end, the cleanup, BBQ, and round robin were a success.