ACR 2025

3045 Army Cadet Corps held its Annual Ceremonial Review (ACR) parade on May 7.  It’s like a year-end Parents Night Parade with more awards & fanfare.  I invited the mayor of Arctic Bay to be the Reviewing Officer (RO).  Planning & practice for the ACR began a month in advance.  The cadets worked on their dress, drill, and deportment while I prepared the program, assembled the awards, and purchased snacks for reception.  We ironed our uniforms and polished our parade boots the weekend before the parade.

The cadets & I arrived at the school gym an hour before the start of the parade to set everything up.  We brought out chairs, tables, awards, trophies, badges, plaques, water, snacks, and flags.

The parade began at 6:30pm with the cadets formed up in the middle of the gym.  The mayor & I entered the gym and took our positions in the centre.  There was a General Salute followed by the playing of O Canada.  The cadet parade commander, a master warrant officer (MWO), escorted the mayor through the ranks during inspection.  While the cadets were being inspected, I welcomed everyone to the ACR and introduced the mayor as the reviewing officer.  The MWO led the cadets in a March Past after inspection.  A March Past is a way for cadets to demonstrate their drill & teamwork to the reviewing officer and audience.

I invited the mayor to address the cadets & audience.  He spoke in Inuktitut, thanking the corps for inviting him, the cadets for marching well, and the parents for supporting the cadet corps.  He then assisted me with handing out awards.

We started with marksmanship badges.  There are four levels; Level 1 is the lowest & Level 4 is the highest.  Two cadets achieved Level 3. 

The marksmanship team was called up next to receive pins & t-shirts for competing in the Stage 3 Regional Competition and winning first place in the Arctic Area!  I received the final results several weeks ago.  Everyone was ecstatic by the news. 

NSE Level 2 Recipient.

Next came the training badges.  Training years are organized into star levels: Green, Red, Silver, Gold, & Master.  It’s another way of saying Years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.  After that, senior cadets can apply for the National Star of Excellence (NSE).  NSE has four levels.  Cadets were called up to receive their star levels and have their pictures taken with the mayor.  The cadet MWO achieved NSE Level 2.

Top Cadet Award Recipient.

The parade continued with the year-end awards.  The first is Most Improved Cadet.  This plaque award went to the cadet that showed the greatest improvement throughout the training year.  The next award is the Best Boots & Deportment trophy, awarded to the cadet that routinely wore & maintained their uniforms to the highest standards.  I rewarded four cadets with the highest attendance by giving them cadet themed t-shirts.  The last award was the Top Cadet Award and was given to the cadet who achieved the highest training results, best uniform & deportment, taking initiative, assisting other cadets, and being a leader.

I read the Closing Remarks, thanking the mayor, parents, guardians, and community members for attending the parade & supporting the corps.  I also thanked the cadets for being present and congratulated them for a successful training year.

The parade concluded with an Advance, General Salute, and the playing of God Save the King.

A corps group photo was taken and then the cadets were dismissed to reception.  Reception last about 30 minutes.  The cadets & I then spent 20 minutes cleaning the gym & putting everything away.  They were dismissed for the remainder of the evening. 

Spring Camp 2025 For Students

Before I get into the main topic of this post, I wanted to briefly address the conclusion of the annual Nunavut Quest dog sledding race.  The race began in Pond Inlet and concluded in Igloolik on April 23.  Eight competitors crossed the finish line with their dog teams after travelling 500km.  Their support teams arrived first.  Jinneal Uttak won first place, Joshua Ivalu earned second place, and Lee Inuarak came in third.  Jinneal is a former student of mine.  The media reported the mushers & supply teams dealing with whiteout conditions a few times, but in the end, everyone arrived safely.  Congratulations Jinneal & everyone who participated!     

The month of May began with Inuujaq School’s annual Spring Camp for students & staff.  The Events Committee spent two & a half months planning the weeklong event.  There are a lot of items to go through, too many to list here.  Weekly meetings were held to get everything on the list completed.  The last meeting included hired drivers, guides, cooks, and Elders.  We went over everything: schedules, procedures, emergency plans, food menu, and activities.  I led the meeting and snacks were provided.

Food for Spring Camp was ordered from the local Northern Store.  They shipped our order by air and delivered it over the weekend.  Staff sorted, organized, and labelled the food in the Home Ec Room.  Hired staff moved some equipment and set up tents at the camp site over the weekend.

Spring Camp officially began on May 5.  The first group to head out were the high school & Grade 9 students & teachers.  They walked down to the ice after morning announcements and packed the qamutiks (sleds) with supplies.  There were overcast clouds in the sky, but the temperature wasn’t too cold.  The convoy left at 9:30am and travelled 12 kilometres southeast to reach Pattaataliarusiq.  The drive usually takes between 20 – 30 minutes.  You can get there faster if you’re only driving a skidoo.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because I had to stay behind and run the school as vice principal.  However, I did keep a VHF walkie-talkie close to me in case the camp leaders called.

Based on the photographs & stories I received from teachers, everyone had fun and the students learned a lot.  They did seal hunting, putting up a tent, dog sledding, sewing, listened to stories told by Elders, and enjoyed a lot of food.  Everyone returned to Arctic Bay by 4:30pm.

The second day of Spring Camp saw students & teachers from Grades 6 – 8 head out and enjoy the same activities as the senior students.  The middle school students also learned how to make an igloo. 

Grades 3 – 5 students & teachers went to Spring Camp on the third day.  Their day was packed with similar activities and games. 

Kindergarten, Grade 1, & Grade 2 went to Spring Camp on the fourth day.  Kindergarten students only went in the afternoon.  The schedule for these classes was not rigorous and heavy.  I was told the students played games, listened to Elders telling stories, and did sewing.

The hired drivers got a lot of mileage ferrying people & supplies between the school & Pattaataliarusiq.

The last day of Spring Camp was reserved for school staff.  More on this in a future post.