Laptops & Candy

The 2-week territory-wide lockdown came to an end on December 2.  Classes resumed on Thursday, December 3.  Was the lockdown necessary in Arctic Bay?  Well, at first the answer appears to be “no” because no cases were reported in the community.  The same could be said in other communities.  However, more cases were reported in Arviat, Rankin Inlet, Whale Cove, and Sanikiluaq.  Additionally, Rankin Inlet serves as a major transportation hub in the Keewatin Region, and offers a direct route to Iqaluit, the other major transportation hub in Nunavut.  So yes, I guess, overall, a territory lockdown was necessary.  Hopefully, Iqaluit will not see an outbreak because that will put all the communities in the Baffin Region at risk.

It was business as usual when classes resumed.  Unfortunately, the teachers wouldn’t be able to get through the rest of their curriculums because of the lockdown.  We just have to make due with the time we have left.  The possibility of a Christmas concert later in the month is looking unlikely.  No official decision has been made, so my drummers & I are practicing as if there is going to be a concert.  My Grade 10 English students will finish the semester with a feature film study.  The Grade 10 Social Studies students will complete the Residential Schools unit and the Grade 11 Social Studies students will complete the unit on Canada’s involvement in the First World War.  Then it’s review, review, review for final exams!

Eleven high school students will be graduating from Inuujaq School this year!  They were finished in June, but we couldn’t hold a graduation ceremony because of the pandemic.  The ceremony was rescheduled to late November, but then the territory-wide lockdown happened.  The ceremony has been moved to December 11 and it’s happening.  The graduates have been waiting too long.  Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed so that another postponement doesn’t happen.  (More on the ceremony in a future post).

A special afternoon presentation for the high school graduates was held on December 8.  The graduates received new laptops from Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (BIMC).  BIMC has been doing this for quite some time now, at least as far back as 2013, when I first came to the community.  I think BIMC also does this in Pond Inlet and other communities directly affected by the Mary River Mine operation on Baffin Island.  The company has the money to spend.  The laptops reward the students for their hard work and will assist them in pursuing post-secondary education.

The graduates arrived & changed into their burgundy grad gowns.  The hoods are made of sealskin.  The grads looked excited.  I took several photographs of the happy group in the main office. 

The presentation began at 3pm.  All classes were instructed to assemble along the main hallway.  The Principal and a Student Support Assistant (SSA) spoke over the public address system in English & Inuktitut.  They announced the names of the graduates, handed them a box containing a laptop, and then instructed them to line up outside the main office.  When each graduate emerged from the main office, they received an applause from onlookers.  Parents & guardians of the graduates took many pictures with their cell phones.  I filmed the presentation while standing on a table at the end of hallway on the middle school side.

A Graduation Walk followed the presentation.  This is where graduates walk from one end of the main hallway to the other while onlookers clap, cheer, photograph, film, and shake the graduates’ hands.  It’s a good way to show appreciation and inspire the younger students to finish school.  It was really easy to see the graduates appreciating the adulations.  The grads returned to the main office and school was dismissed.  Two graduates, unfortunately, couldn’t make it.  They would receive their laptops at a later date.

December 9 was the last day of cadets for 2020.  I had wanted to hold a Parents Night Parade on December 2, but Nunavut was still in lockdown.  The cadets came to the gym in civilian clothes and played sports & games.  To finish the night, I held a candy toss. 

The cadets used blue fold-out mattresses to create a large square.  They each received an extra-large plastic bag and were instructed to stand around the square.  Shoes needed to be removed to avoid injuries.  I went upstairs to the mezzanine level where a bucket & cardboard box were waiting for me.  I asked the cadets if they were ready.  They shouted, “Yes!”  I picked up the bucket full of candy, and dumped all the contents onto the mattresses below.  The cadets charged into the centre.  I then picked up the boxed and dumped the small bags of chips down below.  It only took a few minutes for all the junk food to be claimed.  My leftover Halloween candy was gone.

The cadets helped me put away the mattresses.  I wished everyone a safe & healthy Christmas & a happy new year.  Cadets would start in early January.