Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Tests, Tourists, & a Workshop


The first school week of September began with some very picturesque scenery.  A thick layer of clouds enveloped King George V Mountain (KGVM) on the morning of the 3rd.  At a first glance, it appeared as the if the mountain had shrunken to a tall hill.  On September 4th, the arctic sun was shining just above the mountain's peak, partially covered by low clouds.  The water in the bay was flat and clear as glass.  Moments like these convince me to always have a digital camera at the ready.            


My Grade 11 Social Studies students had a quiz on the first two sections of the Industrialization module.  The two sections we covered looked at life in England before and during the Industrial Revolution, trade & merchant guilds, urbanization, and child labour.  My Grade 12 Social Studies students had a political perspectives test on the topics of democracy & dictatorship.  One of them went to a surprising extreme to not be distracted by his classmates.  He declined my other suggestion; wearing a file folder.  He did very well on the test. 
           

On Sunday, September 7, the Sea Explorer, a cruise ship owned by Danish Clipper Group, visited Arctic Bay.  The vessel is operated by Polar Latitudes, Poseidon Expeditions, and Quark Expeditions, and was escorted to the town by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel.  Tourists from many different countries, dressed in large, noticeable yellow coats, came ashore and explored the town on foot.  It was a sunny clear blue day, but a long line of low overcast clouds drifted across the bay.  I photographed the tourists visiting the Heritage Centre and returning to the Sea Explorer on zodiac boats.  I saw several of them at the Northern Store & Co-op but didn't talk to them.  I overheard a French lady explaining to someone over the phone about how high the prices are.  The Sea Explorer was gone by the end of the day.            
            

September 8th was a "special day" for high school; regular classes were replaced by a day workshop organized by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation.  Baffinland is a Canadian mining company owned by ArcelorMittal and Nunavut Iron Ore, and operates above the Arctic Circle.  Its latest undertaking is the Mary River Project, an open pit iron mine, located on Baffin Island.  The company has just started operations and expects to ship approximately 18 million tonnes of ore per year to European countries.  The iron ore was originally discovered in 1962, but interest in financing the extraction of the natural resource did not happen until many years later.  Iron ores are rocks and minerals that are mined around the world primarily to make steel.
            

Mary River is located 280km southeast of Arctic Bay, and already employs several people from the town.  From what I have been told, the workers are flown to and from the mine by helicopter, and work in two week rotations (two weeks on, two weeks off).  Alternatively, workers from down south are flown in and out twice a week via two Nolinor Boeing 737s based in Kitchener-Waterloo.  The planes stop in Iqaluit to refuel.  The mine and Baffinland are frequent topics of conversation in Arctic Bay because of the economic benefits and work experience they bring to the Inuit.
            

The workshop is designed to educate students on the types of minerals found and can be mined in Nunavut, what the Mary River Project is all about, the types of jobs that await graduating students in the mining sector, and what factors are needed to run a successful mining operation.  The workshop was run by a lady and a man from Baffinland.  There were plenty of individual and groups activities where students examined mineral samples with magnifying glasses, identified minerals using various clues, answered questions in the style of jeopardy, "mined" for iron ore using a cookie, and built mineral structures using toothpicks & Swedish berries.  Naturally, one of the main challenges of the last two mentioned activities was to not eat the food until after their completion.  Snacks and lunch were also provided, courtesy of Baffinland.                                
            

Judging from the interactions of students, it appeared they enjoyed the workshop and learned a lot about the minerals hidden deep underneath Nunavut.  I too learned several new things about minerals and how mining operations work in very remote locations.  The students also received free Baffinland t-shirts for their participation & efforts.  The company is known for being generous to students, especially the high school graduates.  As I mentioned in a previous post, the grads receive a free laptop from the mining company.             


The Baffinland instructors were thanked by the administration and student body for visiting the school and putting on the workshop.  They boarded a plane later that day and flew to another community to put on the same workshop for Inuit students.     


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