Carolling, Santa, and a Party

"We want you to be happy during Christmas."

Friday, December 18, was the last day of school of the fall semester.  The day would be a "fun day".  There was no reason to teach new material because all final marks had been submitted.  I wrote a thank you note for morning announcements, thanking everyone who participated in last night's Christmas Concert, and the members of the Christmas Concert Committee (CCC) for their hard work & assistance.  The concert was the topic of discussion during first period.  I told my students that I was happy with the performances and that nothing went wrong.  Several of my students said they liked my impromptu drum solo.

            

The entire student body relocated to the community hall after morning recess for the carolling event.  K-4 classes were transported by bus and the remaining classes had to walk.  (The school only has one bus at its disposal).  The CCC had recruited several drivers to pick up elders around town and bring them to the community hall.

            

The Christmas decorations from the previous night were still up on the walls, adding to the festive mood.  At the front of the hall were two guitarists and two additional microphones for singers.  When everyone was seated the carolling event began.

            

Eunice leading the carols.

Eunice, the Grade 7 teacher, led the festivities.  Everyone received a photocopied set of Christmas carols that the CCC had prepared several days prior.  The packages were either in English & Inuktitut syllabics, or Inuktitut syllabics & Inuktitut written in Roman orthography.  The guitarists did a great job providing musical accompaniment while everyone sang.  Eunice even got many students and teachers up at the front to lead the audience.  I stood at the back taking pictures and pretending to sing.  (My voice is so bad that it makes peoples' ears bleed).  We sang many Christmas carols, from the classics to the obscure.

            

Tea & coffee were provided for elders.

            

After the last carol was sung, everyone was dismissed for lunch.  I thanked the guitarists for providing music and Eunice for leading the event.  The teachers collected all the photocopied carols and I brought them back to school.

            

Geela, Arctic Bay's soon-to-be-mayor, helps Santa with handing out gifts.

Santa visited Inuujaq School after lunch to hand out gifts to the elementary students.  A large chair was set up for Santa in front of the Christmas tree at the elementary school corner.  Greg, the Grade 6 teacher, photographed every student . . . and possibly teacher that sat on Santa's lap.  (Don't tell the students but the gifts that Santa gave out were actually provided to him by the school.)  Regarding who played the role of Santa . . . well, let's leave that a mystery for now.

            

The older students received gift certificates from the Co-op.  The high school students also picked up their report cards.  Everyone was dismissed early in the afternoon.  Many students and Inuit teachers wished me a Merry Christmas & a happy new year because I was flying down south for the holidays.

            

Greg takes a selfie with
Santa.

Most of the southern teachers & principal were flying home for the holidays, except there were no flights out of Arctic Bay until Sunday, December 20th.  We had Saturday to pack and do whatever.  I spent a portion of the morning in my classroom, getting a heads start on setting up for the new year.  (There is no time like the present!)  The afternoon was spent playing sports with the cadets of 3045 Army Corps.  When it was time to go home, we all wished each other a happy new year.

            

Pot luck buffet.

Chocolate cake made by JF.

Suzanne's Christmas tree.

Saturday ended with an evening Christmas party organized by Suzanne, a nurse working in the community.  Christmas is her favourite holiday.  Many southern & Inuit teachers attended the event.  The party began with a pot luck dinner.  (I'll let the attached photos above show all the food we consumed rather than listing them all).  We ate around a large & tall Christmas tree and reflected on the semester.   

            

We were split into two teams after the meal and competed in a variety of party games.  Some of these games included charades and stacking four metal nuts using two candy canes.  Unfortunately, my team didn't win the competition.  The other team won bragging rights.        

            

Goodie bags.

We thanked Suzanne for organizing a fantastic party.  We each received a goody bag before retiring for the night.  The southern teachers made it to the airport on time to catch their flight down south.            

I'm going to be taking a short writing break over the holidays.  Until the new year arrives, feel free to read my previous posts.  Happy New Year!

JF wearing his yellow paper crown.

See you all in 2016!

Christmas Concert (2015)

The big night is finally here.  It's show time!  The students and teachers of Inuujaq School are ready to present their Christmas acts to the people of Arctic Bay.  From what I witnessed at the dress rehearsal, the community is in for a treat.  Everyone is fully rested, excited, and a little nervous.  But I'm willing to bet that I'm the most nervous because I'm the stage director.  I don't like it when Murphy's Law - "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." - shows up when I'm in charge.  Hopefully, he won't make it into the community hall during the concert.

            

The morning and afternoon of December 17th was a regular school day.  Some classes made last minute changes to their performance pieces.  The bilingual concert programs were printed in colour and folded by high school students.  I checked with Ryan (media teacher) if we had enough pictures for the slideshow.  We put together a collection of school pictures that would be displayed in between performances to keep the audience occupied.

            

The school and most of the town assembled inside the community hall for the evening concert.  It was easy to spot the teachers and students because they were wearing formal clothing.  I spoke with my two high school emcees after I helped Ryan set up the slideshow to the left of the stage.  I gave my emcees one last motivational talk before sending them out with two microphones.

            

Inuujaq School's 2015 Christmas Concert began.

            

High School Emcees

The kindergarteners had the honour of opening the concert with the singing of the classic tune, "Little Drummer Boy".  The children in the front row all had small drums to play on.  The Grade 1 class recreated the nativity scene from the Bible.  The Grade 2 class performed a square dance number that got the audience clapping & tapping along.  The Grade 3 class did a drama skit titled, "Away in the Manger."  The Grade 4 students were the second class to perform a dance routine.  The routine had them dancing to a compilation of songs while wearing various costumes, and acting with various props. 

            

Grade 7s.

Grade 8s.

The Grade 5 students did a drama about a doctor visiting Arctic Bay on Christmas and curing sicknesses.  The Grade 6 class put on a Christmas themed talent show titled, "Do You Think You Can Dance." (The skit is a parody of the popular tv show So You Think You Can Dance).  I was recruited by Greg, the Grade 6 teacher, to introduce the skit with a drum roll.  The Grade 7s did a radio show and the Grade 8s did a drama titled, "From Christmas Eve to Christmas Day."  The play was divided into three scenes: 1) Elves wrapping gifts; 2) Santa Claus & his reindeer delivering the gifts; 3) Kids waking up to delivered gifts.    

            

Grade 9s

Grade 9 Rappers.

Well, this is the moment you've been waiting for.  In my previous post, I wrote about the Grade 9 class setting up a large yoga ball on stage for their act, but neglected to tell you why.  Well, now is the time.  The class wrote & performed a parody of Miley Cyrus's song, "Wrecking Ball", titled, "(I Came In Like A) Santa Claus".  In the "Wrecking Ball" music video, there are numerous shots of Miley Cyrus sitting on a large wrecking ball.  While the Grade 9s sang the chorus, a student fully dressed as Santa Claus sat on the large yoga ball and swung from one side of the stage to other.  The performance and spectacle was very well done and warmly received by the audience.

            

My drummers and I had set up our drums several acts before ours in order to save time.  The other reason was we didn't want to miss the Grade 9 performance.  We carried our drums, music stands, and sheet music onto the stage while the emcees kept the audience entertained.  We all wore matching red hats, and drumstick pins I bought online.  My mother bought the red hats down south and sent them up via First Air Cargo.  When everyone was in position, I signaled the emcees that the 2015 Drum Line was ready.  The curtains were drawn open.  I looked past the excited faces and camera flashes, raised my sticks, and clicked them four times.  We began our act with a bang.

            

2015 Inuujaq School Drum Line

We played four pieces: UCLA Run On, Sick!, Bumper, and the Drumline Ending I wrote based on the ending credit music from the movie Drumline.  The audience liked each of the pieces that we played.  I'll admit we made several mistakes but we followed golden rule: keep going.  The original plan was to conclude with two of my snare drummers performing their own solos, but the audience demanded more.  I stepped up to my snare drum and made up a short solo on the spot.  My bass drummer followed suit with a solo of his own.  My male quad player was the last one to play a solo.  I shook the hands of all of my drummers after the curtains closed.

            

The high school cultural class put on a fashion show by wearing a variety of humourous outfits made out of newspapers.  The participants had to walk off stage and down the middle aisle of chairs because we didn't have an elevated walkway.

            

The last act of the concert involved the Inuujaq School staff.  The staff made posters in English & Inuktitut describing what Christmas means to them.  They presented theses posters in pairs while Greg sang the song "Hallelujah".  I provided the piano accompaniment.  Greg & I had originally planned to perform as a separate act but decided to combine ours with the staff performance.  I have to admit that the performance went better than expected.  We managed to get the entire community hall to sing along during the chorus.             

            

When the curtains closed for the final time, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.  The concert was a success.  A lot of the stress that I had been feeling throughout the week was gone.  There was still carolling the next morning but that would be "a walk in the park".  I slept very well that night.        

            

Unfortunately, my duties as stage director prevented me from taking pictures and videos.  Thankfully, I was able to acquire photos from Ryan.     

Decorating the C-Hall & 3045 Parents Night

Snowflake

It's the last week of school before the Christmas holidays and the "pressure is on".  I feel like Atlas holding up the entire world on my shoulders.  I have final exams to administer & correct, input final marks, write report card comments, oversee the Christmas Concert Committee (CCC), and to top it all off, go out for recess duty.  I'm not complaining; just telling it like it is.  I spent the weekend of December 12 & 13th correcting class work and writing some report card comments to ease the workload for the last week.  I am thankful I have the other members of the CCC to assist me in making the 2015 Christmas Concert a success.

            

December 14 & 15 were the last days of final exams.  The students came to school, wrote their exams, and then went home.  They were glad to be done until the new year.

            

Music equipment.

Wednesday, December 16th was a very busy day.  Grades 9-12 students were tasked with decorating the community hall for the upcoming concert.  Decorations prepared by elementary & middle school classes were collected in large boxes and brought over to the hall after morning recess.  My drummers helped me load all the instruments and musical hardware onto a pickup truck I borrowed from Frank.  It took two trips to transport everything to the community hall.  We placed all the instruments in a safe corner.

            

The students immediately began decorating the entire hall while festive music played over loudspeakers.  The entire place would be covered by lunchtime.  More teachers arrived to help out with the decorating.  The stage and walls were decorated with posters, crafts, wrapped presents, and streamers.  I walked around and took pictures with my camera.

            

The highlight of the morning was when the Grade 9 class set up a large blue yoga ball on stage, suspended from a large white rope.  The ball was part of their concert performance.  The rope was connected to a construction harness that held the ball.  Sarah, the Grade 9 teacher, borrowed the harness from the workers working on the new health centre.  (The exact reason for the use of the yoga ball will be revealed in a future post).

            

Wrapping gifts.

Small Christmas tree.

Everyone went home for lunch.  In the afternoon, all classes gathered inside the community hall for the dress rehearsal.  Each class would perform their act once so that the students & teachers would get comfortable on stage.  I coached the two high school emcees on public speaking, conquering stage fright, and how to ad-lib commentary in between performances.  I also made sure the rehearsal progressed at a steady pace.  It wasn't until halfway through the rehearsal that it finally dawned on me: I really am the stage director this year.

            

The Grade 9 class received a very good reception for their practice performance involving the large yoga ball.  No one was expecting to see that.  (Once again, all will be revealed in a future post.)  My drummers also received a warm reception from the audience when we played through our drum routine. 

            

Despite my best efforts, the dress rehearsal took a little longer than planned.  The good news was that it was only the teachers who had to stay a little longer to practice their performance.  Everyone left the community hall feeling confident.  The concert would take place the following evening. 

            

Audience

3045 Army Cadet Corps held a parents night on the evening of December 16th.  On the program were promotions, awards, and announcements.  The event was held in the school's gym.  Cadets set up the gym with foldout chairs, an awards table, and the flags of Canada & the cadet movement.  The cadets and officers wore their green dress uniforms.  The parade began at 6:30pm.

            

Inspection

March Past

The officers were able to recruit three guest reviewing officers from the local Hamlet Office.  Two were regular employees and the third was the mayor, Phillip Kalluk.  Cadet corporal Qaqqasiq-Taqtu led the corps in a March Past after the reviewing officers returned to their seats. 

            

Biathlon Team

Cadet Tilley C. being promoted
to the rank of Master-Corporal.
Mayor Phillip Kalluk presents
the promotion.

The evening moved on to promotions and awards.  The Biathlon Team was called out to be recognized for their recent trip to the biathlon competition in Whitehorse.  Some of the cadets scored really well on their targets.  There were three promotions: two to the rank of Master-Corporal and one to the rank of Sergeant.  The two new Master-Corporals were Qaqqasiq-Taqtu & Tilley, C.  In addition to cadet Natanine's promotion to Sergeant, she received a white belt and a red sash.  The white belt signifies that she is now a senior cadet and the red sash represents our affiliation with the Royal Canadian Regiment in Toronto.  Lt. May handed her a pace stick before granting her permission to assume command of the corps on parade.

            

CI Reid awards cadet Tilley, D. with a Certificate of Participation on the Skills Team.

CI Reid awards cadet Pauloosie, S.
with a Certificate of Participation
on the Skills Team.

Civilian Instructor (CI) Reid called out the eight members of the Skills Team to hand them their certificates of participation.  A skills competition was held in Iqaluit in early December and CI Reid was the team coach for Arctic Bay.  The last time a northern skills competition was held was in 2014 in Rankin Inlet.  (You can read about it here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  I wanted to be the coach this year but was unable to get the necessary time off work.  The Skills Team flew down to Iqaluit to defend their winning title from 2014, but, despite their best efforts, did not win the competition.  Regardless, the team did win a few of the challenges and had a good time in the territorial capital.

            

The Skills Team demonstrated their team work and discipline by performing the drill routine they had prepared for the competition.  Cadet Qaqqasiq-Taqtu acted as the platoon commander.  The audience was impressed and applauded the demonstration.

            

OCdt Dzioba, (me), addressing
the audience. Photo taken by
Clare Kines.

I had the honour of making the closing remarks to the audience, thanking them for attending the event, and thanking all of our sponsors & volunteers.  Sergeant Natanine led the corps in the Advance in Review Order and General Salute.  When Lt. May and the reviewing officers left the parade square, the cadets were dismissed.  A short reception was held after the parade.  The cadets cleaned the gym before leaving for the night.  

Cadet Sgt. Natanine salutes during the General Salute.

      

Early December

The sea ice has been solid since late November.  Skidoo tracks stretch from one end of town to the other. The sea ice in front of the Northern Store & breakwater is completely covered with tracks.  Dog team owners have also started moving their teams onto the ice, installing wooden pegs, chains, and pens to keep the females separated from the males. 

            

The sun is now a distant memory.  It will not return until early February.  The community still receives some sunlight at lunch time but the actual sun never appears.  The duration of sunlight diminishes with every passing day.  It will drop to an hour by the end of December.  Arctic Bay doesn’t experience 24-hour darkness.

            

December is the last month of the high school fall semester.  Final exams are “right around the corner” – Dec 11, 14, & 15 to be exact – prompting the high school teachers to focus on reviewing all the required materials with their students.

            

In Grade 10 Social Studies, we finished the remaining activities in the Residential Schools module.  The activities focused on compensation to former students from the federal government and various churches, reconciliation, and moving forward.  The remaining regular classes were spent reviewing the entire module.  The students wrote their final exam on Friday, December 11.

            

My Grade 11 Social Studies students finished the semester by examining two historical case studies where genocide was used.  They studied the Ukrainian Genocide of 1932-33, known as the Holodomor, and the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.  Although I am a Canadian-born citizen, my ethnic background is Ukrainian.  Members of my (late) extended family lived, suffered, and perished during the man-made famine.  I decided to share some of my Ukrainian history with my students because they have periodically asked me about my Ukrainian heritage and language.  Yes, I’ll admit it’s odd to begin with a “dark episode”, but we were on the topic of genocide, and not many people know what happened in that part of the world.

            

In addition to the content found in the new textbooks on the Rwandan Genocide, my students & I watched the Canadian film Shake Hands with the Devil, based on the book with the same name.  The memoir was written by Canadian General Romeo Dallaire who was sent to the country to lead the United Nations peacekeeping mission.  In short, he wasn’t given enough money, equipment, and support, and was unable to stop the genocide from happening.  The film was a good adaptation of the book.  (Two other good movies about the genocide are: Hotel Rwanda, and Une Dimanche a Kigali).

            

My drummers spent the remaining two weeks of regular classes getting ready for the Christmas concert.  I made a wise decision to simplify the repertoire.  We spent most of our time practicing down in the Home Ec room because we could play our drums and not annoy any classes.  My drummers no longer complained about having to move all the drums & equipment back & forth.  This assured me there wouldn’t be any problems with moving everything to the community hall for the concert.  Their last performance test of the semester was to play one of the concert pieces.  They all did alright.    

            

Grade 4 classroom window . . . at night.

Christmas decorations were hung all around the school on December 7^th.  The hallways were covered with posters, ribbons, and lights.  A heavily decorated Christmas tree was erected at the elementary school corner.  Next to the tree was a makeshift fireplace that had stockings with the names of Inuujaq School staff.  And four Santa dolls moved into the staff room.  “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” I remarked to a staff member.

            

A trio of Santas.

This year I lead the Christmas Concert Committee.  We held our first meeting at the beginning of the month and drew up a schedule for the last week of school.  We were responsible for organizing the dress rehearsal, Christmas concert, and morning carolling with the elders.  All these events would occur at the community hall.  In the following days, classes prepared & submitted decorations to be used at the community hall, and teachers informed us what acts their students would be performing.  We needed this information for the concert programs.

            

The staff of Inuujaq School held its annual Christmas pot luck dinner on Friday, December 11^th.  The dinner was held in the high school science room.  The tables were arranged into four long rows and decorated with table cloths & candles.  The walls were decorated with lights and purple curtains.  The Christmas tree from the elementary school corner was brought into the room.

            

Everyone brought food to the pot luck.  My contribution was three bags of cooked shrimp & dip.  The food was placed at the back of the science room.  When everyone was present (staff & invited guests), the food was blessed by an elder.  Then everyone grabbed their plates and formed a self-serving line.  The elders received their food first.

             

The dinner concluded with the participants of the Secret Santa activity guessing who was giving them gifts for the past week.  Each participant had three chances to correctly guess their Secret Santa.  If they were unsuccessful, the real person would stand up and confess to everyone that it was them.  That person would then present their final gift.