End of School Year 2025

June 4 was a very special day for the kindergarten students of Inuujaq School.  Graduation had finally arrived!  The students as well as their parents & guardians had been looking forward to the day for a long time.  Preparations for the ceremony had begun months in advance.

The ceremony took place in the school gym.  The kindergarten teacher borrowed the arch & red carpets from the high school graduation committee.  She also prepared a large colourful background for photographs.  The red kindergarten chairs were arranged in front of the background.  Staff, students, parents, guardians, and relatives filled the gym.  The nervous & excited graduates waited outside in the gym lobby, wearing blue grad gowns.

The principal welcomed everyone to the year end assembly and thanked them for being present for kindergarten graduation.  The kindergarten teacher called out each of her students individually.  The students walked along the red carpet, under the red arch, received their graduation certificate from the teacher, and sat on a red chair.  The audience applauded each student.  Once the students were seated, parents & guardians came up to take pictures with their mobile phones.  I joined as the school’s photographer.  The kindergarten teacher posed with the class.  The chair of the local District Education Authority (DEA) also congratulated the kindergarteners for successfully completing the school year.

The assembly continued with student perfect attendance.  Students from each grade were called to the front to receive a certificate for achieving perfect attendance for the month of May.

The assembly concluded with the DEA holding a draw for large bags of food.

The last day of school for students was June 5.  The morning was dedicated to cleaning classrooms & removing garbage from the playground & around the school.  Desks, chairs, and tables were stacked in the corners of classrooms so the custodians could mop & clean the floors over the summer.  Teachers & students were given garbage bags & gloves for the outdoor cleanup.

Students & teachers enjoyed a round robin of outdoor activities & games in the afternoon.  The school’s events committee organized the event.  There were 7 stations: food, soccer, beanbag toss, nakataq, obstacle course, skipping rope, and Inuit games.  The food station was more of a barbecue and nakataq is a rock throwing game where you try to hit a small rock with another small rock.

Groups spent 15 minutes at each station.  Parents & guardians were invited to the barbecue.  There was plenty of food to go around.  High school students were divided amongst the groups and food station.  Several high school students are good BBQ cooks. 

I walked around taking photographs and making sure everything was ran smoothly.  I also enjoyed a hamburger, hot dog, and cup of chicken soup.  The games & barbecue concluded at 3:30pm.  Sports equipment was brought inside, and the food station was cleaned up.  Garbage bags were placed in large bins.  Students were dismissed for summer break.  They were “free” until mid-August.

The last day of school for staff was June 6.  An afternoon potluck was held for everyone in the Home Ec Room.  There were various food items to choose.  The principal congratulated everyone for making the school year a success and wished everyone a safe & happy summer.  The food was blessed and everyone lined up.  I joined last.  The food was delicious.

Staff going down south for the summer or not returning in August returned their keys to the main office.  Everyone was dismissed in the early afternoon.

The principal & I had to stay an extra two working days to finish administrative duties.  I flew down south two days later.

As always, I’ll be taking a break from my blogging duties for the summer months.  See you all in August!

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High School Graduation 2025

Friday, May 30, was a very big & special day for three high school students.  Graduation had finally arrived!  The students were excited to celebrate their successful completion of high school with family, friends, Elders, teachers, students, and community members.  Months of planning & organization by the Graduation Committee had all come down to this.

The festivities began in the morning at Inuujaq School.  The graduates changed into their pink graduation gowns and did a congratulatory walk down the main hallway to music.  Students & staff lined the hallway, applauded and cheered.  I filmed the event with the school’s camcorder.  The graduates did the walk twice.

The graduates were given the afternoon off to get ready for the evening ceremony at the local community hall.  High school & middle school students spent the afternoon decorating the community hall.  I assisted by transporting decorations with the help of a borrowed pickup truck.

I arrived at the community hall at 5:30pm.  The graduation dinner was set to begin at 6:00pm so I used the extra time to photograph the decorations.  High school & middle school did an excellent job.  The stage was fully decorated with balloons, banners, flowers, stars, chairs, a podium, and gold backdrop.  Rows of tables & chairs sat in front of the stage for dinner guests.  The chair covers were white and the tablecloths were red.  Flower decorations sat on gold runners on each table.  A long L-shaped red carpet ran down the centre of the hall, lined with small bright lights.  An arch decorated in red, pink, white, sat at the halfway point.  The hall looked ready for a celebration.

The graduates & dinner guests began arriving at 5:45pm.  The local hotel was hired to cater the event, and their staff moved all the prepared food, desserts, and drinks into the hall.  A line of tables set up against a wall served as the food tables.  By 6:00pm everything & everyone was ready.

The principal welcomed everyone to the graduation dinner.  An Elder blessed the food and the graduates were invited to get their food first.  Everyone else followed.  I waited for the line to thin out and then filled my plate with food.  The prepared menu was delicious.  Dinner lasted about an hour. 

We spent the next hour clearing & putting away the tables and rearranging the chairs to face the stage.  Untouched leftover food was placed in the foyer with takeout boxes & disposable cutlery.  People who attended the graduation ceremony were free to help themselves to leftovers.  People started arriving for the ceremony at 7:30pm and the hall quickly filled with spectators.  The ceremony began at 8:00pm.

Two Elders led an opening prayer and lighting of the ceremonial qulliq.  The graduates were escorted into the hall by their parents along the red carpet.  Their graduation gowns were pink.  Celebratory music played over loudspeakers.  Everyone clapped & cheered as the graduates took their seats on stage.  The music faded out and the audience sat down.

The principal addressed the audience & graduates.  She congratulated the graduates for completing high school and thanked the parents/guardians & community for assisting them and the teachers.  She encouraged the grads to continue their education, be it college, university, or both, and consider a career in education.

The graduates were presented their high school diplomas.  They were all smiles and received extended applauses from the audience.

The head of the local District Education Authority (DEA) took to the podium and congratulated the students for completing high school.  They also encouraged them to consider a career in education because Nunavut needs more teachers.  The students were then gifted a bursary of several hundred dollars.

The ceremony continued with awards.  The categories were Athletics, Inuktitut, English, Math & Science, Hamlet of Arctic Bay, and Governor General’s Academic Medal (GGAM).  All awards came with certificates, but some included cash prizes.  I had the honour of presenting the GGAM to the student with the highest academic average.  This year was close.  We almost had a tie. 

The graduates were given the chance to address the audience.  They thanked their families, friends, & teachers for helping them finish school.  Parents, guardians, and friends were also invited to say a few words.  They too thanked school staff for helping the graduates.

The principal did the closing remarks.  The graduates then stood up and exited the hall while celebratory music played.  They smiled & waved at the cheering audience.  The ceremony had come to an end.

School staff moved a table with red cloth over to a decorated wall.  A large graduation cake was carefully brought out and placed on the table.  The three graduates stood behind the cake and held a large cutting knife.  Many photos were taken.  The cake was cut into many pieces and handed out to the audience.  The grads got the first pieces.  A smaller Sponge Bob themed cake was made just for the graduates. 

School staff packed up items that belonged to the school, carried them outside, and placed them in the truck I borrowed from Frank.  I got a few volunteers to come with me to put everything inside the school.  Better to do it now than later. 

I dropped off Frank’s truck and walked home.  The graduates & their friends would continue to celebrate at the community hall with an evening dance.