Piliriqatigiinniq - Part 2

It was a bright and sunny Wednesday, as I walked up to Inuksuk High School, eager to start another day of workshops. The mood was a lot livelier than before and that could only mean one thing: David Suzuki had come to town. I saw him enter the building with his agent (I'm guessing) after getting a cup of hot chocolate. The 75 year-old academic was about my height and his right arm was in a sling. The gymnasium was packed with teachers, all eager to listen and to get a glimpse of the academic celebrity. Sitting in the balcony section, I watched David Suzuki slowly making his way to the stage only to be stopped by waves of people wanting to take a picture with him. He politely shook hands, spoke with his fans, and let them take a photo. This continued for about another 15 minutes before his agent shooed everyone away. I wondered if he could still see because many photos were taken with flash.

The morning began with the usual opening remarks from the MCs. Then it was David Suzuki's turn after he was formally introduced. Standing behind a wooden podium, in front of 600 teachers (several of which were filming), he launched into his 45 minute speech, titled 'The Challenges of the 21st Century: Setting the Real Bottom Line'. I have to admit that he was a very good orator, speaking passionately about the need to take better care of the environment and to put more resources into education. He was given an extended applause and a gift when he finished. The MCs also added that he would be doing a book signing during the morning break.

I had to skip the book signing and meeting David Suzuki because I had to quickly make my way over to Aqsarniit Middle School for the American Sign Language workshop. I had already missed the bus, so I had to take a cab. I had arrived on time and successfully found the classroom, only to be informed that the workshop had been cancelled. The news had been communicated earlier but I guess I didn't hear it. In the blink of an eye, I now had 3 spare periods. Since it was a beautiful day, I decided to walk back to Inuksuk and see what classes I could sit in.

It was lunch time when I entered the high school for the second time; the morning workshop period had just finished. As always, lunch consisted of a meat or vegetarian sandwich with an apple or orange, slice of cheese, and dessert square of some kind. Good but not great.

The first afternoon workshop I decided to sit in on was called, 'Pyramid of Behaviour: 7 Keys to Positive Learning', and it was presented by Tom Hierck. Hierck had been involved in education since 1983 as a teacher, administrator, district leader, and an executive director. His presentation focused on his recently completed book, (collaborated with two other educators), that had the same name as the presentation. Basically, he argues that the 7 keys to creating a positive learning environment are: common expectations; targeted instruction; positive reinforcement; support strategies & interventions; collaborative teams; data-driven dialogue; and schoolwide systems approach. He was a good presenter, engaging interest in those who attended, and making a good case. Many teachers, including myself, bought copies of his books which he happily autographed at the end of the period.

For the second afternoon period, I stayed in the gym to see a newly made documentary film called 'Going Places: Supporting Our Students'. The film was produced by Gemini award winning film maker Mark Sandiford who was in attendance. Going Places looks at the factors contributing to student graduation from the high schools in Pangirtung & Clyde River. The film also argues that 'when parental & educator support to students is based on principles of the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and sustained by school-community partnerships, improvements in graduation rates can take place.' In short, the more everyone helps, the more successful students will be. The film was well done in my mind and many of the other attendees thought the same way. Several people in the crowd were given an opportunity to comment on the film and the challenges of keeping Inuit children in school.

Wednesday concluded with an evening square dance performance in the main foyer of the high school. The main attraction was Simeonie Keenainak, a retired RCMP officer and an accomplished accordionist. The accordion instrument was introduced to the Inuit by European fur traders in the 18th & 19th centuries.

The following day (Feb 16) was considered to be the last day of the conference because many teachers would be flying back to their communities early Friday morning. The morning keynote address was split in two: the first part would be a panel discussion on the evolution of education in Nunavut, and the second part would be a presentation about education by Tom Hierck. The panel consisted of 3 Inuit female teachers who had been teaching for many years. Two of them spoke in Inuktitut and the other spoke in English. I was tempted to take one of the black listening devices, but I chose to listen to the Inuktitut being spoken even though I had no idea what was being said. Tom Hierck's presentation touched on his 7 Keys to a Positive Learning Environment and about his time working as an educator.

The morning took on a more darker tone when I attended a workshop titled, 'Legacy of Hope: Teaching about the Residential School Experience.' It was an introduction to a new Grade 10 social studies module being developed to teach about the causes and lasting effects of Canadian Residential School system. The presenters were hoping that the module & its resources would be ready for introduction in September of this year. At the end of the presentation, we were free to help ourselves to complementary books and CDs about the controversial topic.

For those of you who don't know, the Residential School system is one of Canada's dark chapters of its history. From the 1840s to 1996, these schools were established (by Christian churches) to assimilate all Aboriginals into European-Canadian society. Children were forcibly removed from their families and communities and were required to live on school grounds, forbidden to speak their native languages and practice their culture. Corporal punishment and physical & sexual assaults were used to maintain order. Many died from tuberculosis because many of the schools were underfunded and lacked proper medical care. It wouldn't be until the late 1990s when reconciliation attempts were introduced to heal the wounds. In mid-2008 the Conservative federal government at the time formally apologized for residential schools and the lasting impact they created.

After lunch, I made my way to the Iqaluit Visitor Centre for the 'Walk Through Northern Culture' workshop. For the workshop, myself and a few other teachers listened to a local author who told several Inuit legends and stories in English that he learned from his mother. Several of the stories have been published.

Thursday's catered dinner was the best, with prime roast being served to you by well dressed cooks. The taste was so good, I felt like I was eating at a five-star restaurant. Naturally, I had a second helping. Of course, you could help yourself to side orders of salad, bread, fruit, and dessert. While eating with the other teachers, we pondered on how much the entire conference cost. Some guessed $2 - $3 million. While standing at the dessert table, David Suzuki walked up. Turning to him, I congratulated him for making a good speech. He said 'thank you' but in a tone that I interpreted as 'If you're wanting a photograph, not now because I'm eating.'

The day concluded with the closing ceremonies, meaning more speeches, but awards were also given out to those teachers who had been teaching for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, & 35 years. There was also the draws for First Air tickets to anywhere in Nunavut. Sadly, I didn't win them.

On Friday, there was only the keynote address and morning workshop because many teachers had to leave on morning flights. I felt sorry for the morning presenter, Catherine O'Brien, because she didn't have a big audience to hear her presentation on 'Sustainable Happiness.' The last workshop I attended was called 'Safety in the Workplace', presented by Marc Lefebvre, member of the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC). He explained to us the rights we have as teachers, how to properly refuse to work in a dangerous environment, and how to promote safety in the workplace.

Overall, my first Nunavut teacher conference went over fairly well. I learned many new things from the keynote addresses and the workshops I attended. If there was more time, I would have attended the other workshops I wanted to sign up for. I also got to meet many teachers from all over the territory, many of which congratulated me for getting the music teaching job and stating that I had the best equipped music room in all of Nunavut. Speaking of the music room, I now had Friday afternoon and the entire weekend to put everything back in order and to plan my lessons for the following week.

Piliriqatigiinniq - Part 1

With two weeks of teaching under my belt, I was surprisingly treated to a week-long break from schooling. In fact, all teachers were. The reason for this is because the 3rd week of the semester is a Professional Development (PD) week for teaching staff. The big event planned for the week of February 13-17 was the second Piliriqatigiinniq (Working Together) Teachers Conference, where around 600 teachers from all over Nunavut would converge in Iqaluit to listen to guest speakers, partake in numerous workshops spread across 3 schools (Inuksuk, Nakasuk, Aqsarniit), network with other teachers, and eat food catered by the Frobisher Inn. So basically, the teachers were going to school as students. Naturally, my music room would be used for the duration of the week.

Before the conference began, teachers were required to register for workshops online. It was a first-come-first-serve, meaning a lot of workshops had been filled on the first day of registration. Thankfully, I was able to register for most of the courses I wanted. To avoid the morning Monday rush, I checked in and picked up my welcome bag in the cafeteria of Inuksuk High School on Sunday. Like all professional conferences, the welcome bag contained a nametag, program booklet, pens, notepad, mug, flyers from the program sponsors, and your timetable.

Each day of the week was scheduled the same way: the morning would begin with a keynote address by a guest speaker followed by a break and a workshop period. Next was lunch, two afternoon workshop periods, an hour to look at education displays, followed by dinner. Breakfast was only being served at the hotels where the visiting teachers were staying. The heart of the conference would be Inuksuk High School.

On Monday morning, I entered the high school after walking past two large whale bones that had been placed at the front entrance. The main lobby was crowded with teachers holding their blue welcome bags and silver gift mugs filled with hot coffee. After filling my mug with hot chocolate (because I don't drink coffee), an announcement was made for everyone to file into the gymnasium for the opening remarks. Once inside, I noticed hundreds of small black devices lying on three tables near the entrance. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were listening devices. On the stage next to the main podium, sat two enclosed cubicles for an English & Inuktitut translator. Once everyone was seated, the conference officially began.

The opening remarks were done in both English & Inuktitut, with the MCs welcoming everyone to the conference in a traditional Inuit greeting. Because the weather was acting up again, not everyone had been able to fly in and that included several presenters. If the weather kept acting up, some workshops would have to be cancelled. However, we were reminded that should that be the case, we would be free to join other workshops that weren't full. As an added bonus, there would be buses ferrying us between the schools and other venues.

The first keynote address was delivered by Sandra Herbst, titled 'Engaging Students' and lasted about an hour. It was PowerPoint presentation filled with colourful pictures and quotes. Since break period was to follow the address, the Frobisher Inn staff began setting up several tables at one of the far ends of the gym. Near the end of her presentation, Sandra was interrupted by the sound of hot coffee spilling on the gym floor. One of catering staff wasn't careful enough with the large coffee container. After the keynote address, everyone lined up to get their first take of the catered food . . . without fresh coffee. The snacks included muffins and fresh fruit.

My first workshop was 'Working With Orff Instruments,' taught by Dr. Anne Dolloff, the University of Toronto professor who I met earlier. Orff instruments include miniature xylophones, marimbas, glockenspiels, and metallophones. For the workshop, Dr. Dolloff explained the Orff Approach (aka Orff Schulwerk), a simple teaching method used to introduce music to first time musicians. There are 4 stages: imitation, exploration, improvisation, and composition. We looked at a few songs & rhymes, learning and expressing their rhythms & melodies through singing, chanting, clapping, dancing, patting, finger snapping, and playing on the instruments. It felt like elementary school all over again.

The bagged lunches were good but not great. There were two options: take it or leave it. No, actually it was meat or vegetarian. Inside was a sandwich, fruit, stick of cheese, crackers, and a desert of some kind.

The next workshop was led by John Gann, a retired teacher who came to Iqaluit to promote an education resource that was created and launched by the Canadian Superior Court Judges' Association back in 2004, called 'Try Judging'. The resource introduces students to the role of judges in the Canadian judicial system and encourages them to learn more about the rule of law. The program is available online and in hardcopy. The resource is meant to compliment the Grade 10 Civics course. The only thing I didn't like was the website's retro look.

The last workshop of the day turned out to be the most intense. It was called, 'Daily Physical Activity: Why, What, and How', and it was led by Doug Gleddie, a well experienced phys ed teacher. After hopping over to the Nakasuk school by bus, about 20 teachers and myself moved around in the school's hexagonal gym, doing various physical activities that promoted healthy living and having fun. It certainly gave me ideas on what to do if I ever got stuck supply teaching a phys ed class. Unfortunately, the buses had to be cancelled after the last workshop because a blizzard decided to pay Iqaluit a visit. Several teachers walked back to Inuksuk while the rest (including me) got rides from local teachers who had brought along their vehicles.

From what I remember, dinner was the better meal that day, with fresh pasta, buns, salads, vegetables, and fruits & cakes for dessert. Being a teacher sure felt good at that moment. I sat down at a table and talked with teachers from all over the territory. The night ended early because the blizzard also forced the cancellation of the official opening ceremonies.

The blizzard was gone by Tuesday morning but it still caused problems at the airport forcing several flights to be delayed and/or cancelled. Because of this, the morning keynote address would not be done by David Suzuki. Yes, thee David Suzuki. Canadian born academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. The people in charge of the conference were still hoping he would be able to make it for Wednesday morning, otherwise they would have to pay for a $30,000 no-show, so the rumour was. Instead, the address was done by the phys ed teacher, Doug Gleddie. Let's just say his presentation was a mix between a PowerPoint lecture and his workshop I attended the day before.

For Tuesday, I only attended one workshop, Introductory Inuktitut, but it was spread across all the periods. Since I was staying in Iqaluit for the next year, best to learn the local language. For the workshop, everyone received a free complimentary English-Inuktitut glossary, full of common phrases & words. Our teacher, Ms. Pujjuut Kusugak, started with the syllabary chart, showing us how to correctly pronounce each syllable. Some of them are quite difficult to master. Knowing a Slavic language helps a little bit. We then moved on to writing our names in Inuktitut, naming animals & items, and saying phrases that we could use in the classroom, such as, 'sit down', 'do your work', 'and 'look everyone.'

After another well catered dinner that featured pork chops, the official opening ceremonies began at 8pm, featuring speeches from the Nunavut premier and several prominent academics. While sitting in the gym's balcony section, listening to one academic ramble on about the importance of education, I felt that the conference was off to a good start.

Qauppattauq! (See you tomorrow!)

Northern Lights & A Concert

On Thursday morning, much of the student body assembled in the gym once again to hear a presentation, but this time, the topic was the northern lights, aka the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for wind - boreas. (In the southern hemisphere, the southern lights are known as the aurora australis). The presenter was a French Quebec photographer who spends many days on the road, photographing the northern lights all over Canada. He spoke in French while the guidance counselor, Pascale, translated into English.

An aurora is a natural light display high in the night sky and can be seen in the Arctic & Antarctic regions of the Earth. Although, there have been times where they can seen in regions further away from the poles. I can recall seeing northern lights in Ottawa and in Winnipeg. Auroras are caused by solar winds colliding with nitrogen & oxygen atoms in the upper atmosphere (starting at 80km above sea level). The sudden 'boost' of energy excites the oxygen & nitrogen atoms and they emit various colours. The colourful waves of light move along the Earth's magnetic field. The type of gas determines what colours will be emitted. Oxygen can emit red, yellow-to-green, green, and brown-to-green. Nitrogen can emit blue or red. Sometimes, the solar winds may collide with hydrogen & helium atoms in the high atmosphere, producing blue & purple colours but those are hard to see.

So far, I have only seen the northern lights twice in Iqaluit. Both times, they were that of long green waves floating in the sky, disappearing and coming back every few minutes.

Besides the explanations above, the presentation also contained many photographs the presenter took and short compilation videos he made himself, and explaining the challenges of photographing the northern lights. You need a hi-def SLR camera with really good lenses; it can't be done with a regular digital camera. He also shared several Aboriginal and Inuit legends about the northern lights. Overall, it was a pretty interesting and informative presentation. To finish it off, he showed a popular YouTube video of the International Space Station filming the Earth from above, capturing the northern lights, city lights, and many different weather patterns.

On Sunday, February 12, a community choral concert was hosted by the Iqaluit Music Society at Inuksuk High School. It was supposed to have taken place on the 11th but it was postponed due to a snow blizzard. (Driving through that was an interesting experience). Six children choirs and the Iqaluit Fiddlers children's club performed two pieces each and then came together for a massed choir finale, numbering a little over 100 singers! The musical genres included: Newfoundland folk, gospel, traditional Inuit song & drum dancing, and popular music. There was even a throat singing performance between two young girls. All I have to say is that throat singing is a lot more complicated than it sounds.

The concert was attended mostly by the parents of the children. I attended to make myself known to everyone and because I had part to play myself. I was drafted by the guest massed choir director, Dr. Lori-Anne Dolloff to play drum set for the gospel song 'Feeling Good'. Ms. Dolloff, who is the Coordinator of the Music Education Division at the University of Toronto, was in Iqaluit for the upcoming teacher's conference the following week. She travels frequently and has visited Iqaluit several times in the past for business and pleasure.

Overall, the 90 minute concert was a success. A lot of young children got a chance to showcase their musical talents to family & friends. There were some moments where the voices sounded off but that was probably due to stage fright. As for me, my guest appearance on drums turned out well, adequately backing up the singers & piano with a simple rhythmic beat. After the concert came the task of moving the drums & music stands back to the music room, and disassembling the stage risers to make way for tables and chairs that would be used for the upcoming teacher's conference.

Contact

Up there, in the night sky, a small speck of white light can be seen, moving swiftly over you, at a speed of 27,743.8 km/h, almost 23 times the speed of sound. It doesn't appear to be moving that fast because you're looking at it from 330 - 410km away. Regardless, you will only see it for a period of 2 to 5 minutes before it disappears from view, but you may it see it again, and again. After all, this large man-made object does complete 15.7 orbital rotations around the Earth in one day. But this object is not the Hubble Telescope or a very big weather satellite. It's actually the International Space Station (ISS), a large habitable artificial satellite, that was collectively constructed by the Unites States, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the 11 member states of the European Space Agency. It was built for scientific research, space exploration, and education & cultural outreach.

Starting in 1998, the necessary components (currently 159 in all) were launched by American & Russian rockets and spacecraft and assembled in space by highly trained astronauts (cosmonauts if you're Russian). Originally intended to be completed in 2006, the majority of components were not installed until 2011. The 450,000kg station is large enough to hold a crew of six. Since 2001, the ISS has become a popular destination for space tourists. So far, only 7 individuals have travelled to the station in Russian Soyuz spacecraft. You too can experience this once in a lifetime opportunity by contacting the Space Adventures tourism company and paying between $20 - 40 million USD.

One of the education programs that is offered via the ISS is the ARISS program. ARISS stands for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, and is a volunteer program designed to inspire "students, worldwide, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math through amateur radio communication opportunities with the International Space Station (ISS) on-orbit crew." The program is an offshoot of the SAREX (Space Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) program, where students from all over the world would speak with astronauts orbiting around the Earth in one of the four American space shuttles. On the ARISS website, it is stated that when an application is submitted, the school needs to wait between 1.5 to 2 years before contact is made. And on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012, it was Inuksuk High School's turn.

There are two available options for contact: Direct and Telebridge. The direct option means setting up an amateur radio link just between the school and the ISS. Telebridge means contact between the ISS and the school is made via a dedicated ARISS station on the planet. In this case, contact would be established via Telebridge in the following chain: Inuksuk-Halifax-Honolulu-ISS.

When it was time, the entire student body converged in the gym which had been set up for the occasion. Two large screens stood on stage, and the large radio antenna sat to the left of the stage, next to a small screen that showed the orbiting position of the ISS. Also attending were students from local elementary schools, and Nunavut politicians, including the premier, Eva Aariak. Naturally, the event was covered by the CBC and local radio stations.

Before radio contact was established, the audience was treated to a presentation about ARISS, the ISS, space travel, and NASA by several visiting NASA astronauts. The presentation included videos, lectures, and small robot demonstrations. After that, the radio link was first established with Halifax & Honolulu, and tested by having the twenty selected students practice reading their questions. Due to the limited window of time, only one minute would be devoted to each question & response. Then Terry Young, the principal, made his opening remarks. Once that was out of the way, the moment had arrived. When the ISS was within range of Honolulu, radio contact was established and through the mild static, everyone could hear the voice of astronaut Don Pettit, who launched into space on December 21, 2011 for a six month stay on the station.

Like clockwork, each student came up and asked their question, making sure they ended with the word "over", short for "I have finished talking and am now listening for your reply." Some of them looked nervous but got through it even though they were being photographed and videotaped by the CBC. Example of questions that were asked: How do you become an astronaut?; What is life like on the ISS?; What do you do in your spare time?; What kind of food do you eat in space?; & What's the best part about being in space? Unfortunately, not all students got a chance to ask their questions. Around 12 - 13 students got the chance. If only the ISS crew could slow down the speed of the station. Regardless, after radio contact was lost, all the chosen students were given a round of applause. This was followed by a speech from the premier and the NASA volunteers.

To celebrate the event, everyone was treated to a well prepared lunch in the cafeteria, featuring several traditional Inuit dishes and cakes. As I stood with several teachers, eating my caribou stew, I admitted to myself that being present at an ARISS event was pretty exciting. Asking a question to an astronaut sounds simple enough, but the knowledge of communicating into outer space is what amplifies the experience. When I was in high school, the ISS was just starting to get built. I suppose my school could have applied for SAREX but that never happened.

Unfortunately, due to a blizzard rolling through Iqaluit, the presentation on the northern lights had to be postponed until Thursday morning. As well, most of the student body was sent home before the blizzard forced the cancellation of the school buses. Teaching staff on the other hand had to remain at the school until the end of the day. That gave me time to prepare for future lessons. However, progress was slow because I spent most of the time thinking about the radio contact and promising myself to find a way to journey into space.

My Name Is Atuian

The second week of the semester was busy but also short. There were a lot of activities crammed into the schedule meaning not a lot of time could be devoted to classes. For starters, it was Nunavut Language Week (NLW), meaning there would be an activity for all period 2 English classes (including mine) to complete for everyday of the week. These activities were designed to encourage students to use the Inuktitut language and to raise awareness about Inuit culture. Next, on Wednesday, was the planned radio contact between the high school and the International Space Station, followed by a presentation on the northern lights (more on that in the next post). And finally, there would be no classes on Friday because of all day parent-teacher interviews.

The NLW activity on Monday was to have the students select an Inuit skill and write as many words that relate to that skill. The words had to be written in Inuktitut; English translations were optional. Then the words had to be organized into a word web. My Grade 11s chose hunting. For the activity, I lent them the Inuktitut phrase book I had purchased at Arctic Ventures because it contained a glossary. As an added bonus, the students taught me how to say & write my first name in Inuktitut: Atuian. The Inuktitut syllabary was created by the Anglican missionary Edmund Peck in the 1870s. He based it on the Cree syllabary which was devised by the missionary James Evans in the 1840s. When they had a sufficient amount of words, my students wrote them on large orange cards and stapled them to a display board in the hallway in front of the class. It looked quite nice.

On Tuesday, the activity called on students to find the meaning of a word that was given in Inuktitut over the school's intercom. The class that could correctly guess the word would win one free item from the canteen. It was easier for my students because they spent the period in the computer lab writing up their short story assignments, meaning they also had access to the Internet. But I can't remember if one of them correctly guessed the word.

I didn't get to teach all of my Grade 9s because of the schedule changes, but from the few I did see, we moved on to notes on the second string. The textbook I'm using has a few songs that use the first two strings and for my first assessment of the semester, my Grade 9s will have to learn how to play one those of those pieces by the end of February. The classes I did not see this week will get an extra week to prepare.

My Grade 10 musicians were coming along nicely. From the sounds they were making, actual notes were beginning to appear. Now they just needed to sound in tune. In an interesting reversal, one of my drummers spent more time on learning drums & music theory rather than fooling around and questioning my authority. I think it was because I jammed with him on the piano, playing pop songs that went along with the drum beats he had just learned. Now I had to focus on motivating my other percussionist. At the request of one of my trumpet boys, I switched him to clarinet because he found the trumpet too hard. Naturally, he squeaked his first few notes until I showed him how to properly play the notes and how to breathe. Trust me, you do not want to breathe too hard into the clarinet, otherwise you will pass out. What was also good to see were students signing out their instruments and books to practice them at home. Unfortunately, the attendance of a few was still sporadic, mostly because they were on the fence on whether to drop the course or not.

As for my senior musicians, I expanded their repertoire to include another jazz piece and concert piece, bringing the total to six. More will be added in the future so that when they are called upon to perform, we can pick & choose. Since there's only nine senior musicians, I play along with them on the piano or drums.

Friday was more of a quiet day despite it being entirely devoted to parent-teacher interviews. Since I was new and replacing Mary for the next year, I couldn't answer any questions parents had about last semester. Thankfully, only one parent had those questions, and I gave her Mary's contact information. I had only met about 4 parents who came in to see who I was and what I was like. Hopefully, I made a good impression. In between these brief meetings, I spent my time tuning the guitars, and practicing clarinet and piano. When Friday came to a close, I reflected that my second full week in Iqaluit went by faster than the first. I patted myself on the back and looked forward to the weekend.

Living In Apex

In 1942, the town of Iqaluit was established by the American air force. The area was chosen for the construction of an airbase that would serve as a refueling station for short range fighter aircraft. The fighter aircraft would then be ferried across the Atlantic Ocean to fight German forces in occupied Europe during the Second World War. The Americans would stay in Iqaluit until 1963. Until 1987, the town was officially known as Frobisher Bay, but to the Inuit, the area was known as Iqaluit, meaning "place of many fish."

Apex, a suburb of Iqaluit, was founded in 1949 by the Hudson's Bay Company, by moving their south Baffin operations to the Apex Beach area in order to have access to the landing strip at the American base. Because the air base was off-limits to everyone who did not work there, much of the Inuit population lived in Apex. When the Americans left, much of the population, including government administrators, moved closer to the airfield because it provided a vital commercial & transportation link to the outside world. There had been an attempt to close the settlement but the idea never came to fruition.

Today, however, Iqaluit prefers not to increase housing in the suburb because the water and sewer systems are serviced by trucks and the costs are expensive. Currently, Apex is home to about 60 families, and has a women's shelter, church, and primary school. Until a bachelor pad was found, I would be living in this small community.

Pascale, the guidance counselor that took me in, had been living in Apex with her Inuit husband and two children since last August. She had met her future husband in Kimmirut, a small community located south west of Iqaluit. They lived there for 18 years before she got a teaching job at Inukshuk High School. She & her husband purchased a spacious house in Apex to get away from hussle & bussle of Iqaluit. I can understand because there is vehicle congestion; everybody either drives a pickup truck or a land rover. The family also owns a dog team. Three of the dogs, Saku, Odin, and Pocket, live around the house. They are fed dog food, and seal & caribou meat.

The children are in elementary & high school respectively, and enjoy watching Japanese animation (Anime). They know more about Anime than I do. What's also interesting is that for the past few summers, they have attended summer camps at Camp Tawingo, near Huntsville, Ontario. This is significant because I too have stayed at Camp Tawingo way back in the 1990s, but during the family winter/New Year's program.

During the first school week, the days began at 6am, getting out of bed and having a quick breakfast. Then it was off to the high school in the family truck, driving up and over the hill that separates both communities. There's only one road that connects both towns and it's called Road to Apex. The road slowly ascends and descends a hill in an 's' pattern. On that section of road, it is very difficult to pick up the local radio stations in your vehicle unless you have a tall antenna. Because of blizzards, metallic posts with colourful reflecting sheets line the road so that drivers do not veer off into a ditch and/or rocks. Thousands of these posts also line the roads in Iqaluit.

On Sunday (Feb. 5), I decided to hike up to the top of a nearby hill next to the house and snap several photographs of Frobisher Bay. I had just come back from the high school, having spent several hours planning for next week, so I deserved a break. Many Apex residents walk their dogs up and around the hill. Grey clouds hovered in the sky but there were some cracks that let in sunlight. Armed with my digital camera, I slowly trekked up the sides of the hill as large black ravens watched in amusement. After about 15 minutes, I had reached the summit and could see the vast bay & the surrounding mountains, all of Apex beneath me, and Iqaluit in the distance. The view was fantastic. Despite the occasional sounds of a distant snow mobile, there was nothing but silence. If only I had a pin to drop. Growing up as a city boy, it felt surreal, like I was lost in the vastness of space. As I continued snapping photographs of the bay, the distant mountains, inukshuks, and the cloudy skies, the reality of my situation finally started to sink in. Oh yeah, I thought, I'm really here in the far north. And I thought New Zealand was remote. This is more. Much more.

I slowly descended the hill after enjoying the spectacular scenery for several more minutes. It was starting to get colder and I had not brought my toque with me. My body was adapting to the new climate at a steady pace; I was no longer wearing a face mask everywhere I went. I also noticed that I was beginning to use the local lingo. For example, up here, when you talk about the south, you mean southern Canada. Once inside, I had dinner with the family and then proceeded to do last minute planning, checking my email, and surfing the Internet.

The First Week

With the first day under my belt, I was ready for the next challenge; getting through the first week. It would be a little easier because I now knew what kind of students I would have in each class. However, I still had to plan out the semester for each course, and come up with a way of settling the troublemakers and get them to focus on their studies.

In Nunavut, the teachers follow the Alberta curriculum, a large collection of documents that outline the expectations that teachers & students need to meet for each grade. Unfortunately, the curriculum is vague on what topics teachers can teach. For example, in music, there isn't a list of pieces that students must learn in each grade; choice of repertoire is left to the music teacher. This can be difficult for first time teachers because you're given a huge amount of freedom to teach an infinite amount of topics and yet, you don't know where to begin. For the music classes, I asked Mary which topics I should begin with? For Grade 11 English, I spoke with Verna after school and she showed me her resources and we both planned the semester together. With plans in place, my confidence was now higher than before.

My time at the hotel was up on Tuesday morning but the bigger problem was that a bachelor pad hadn't been found for me. When I arrived on Friday, there was only a smoking apartment available, but I politely declined and opted for a non-smoking unit. Thankfully, one of the guidance counselors had informed Terry that she had a spare room in her house and didn't mind renting it out. I accepted the offer and moved all my stuff over to her place in Apex, a small community located just 5km southeast of Iqaluit. I would now carpool with her & her kids to and from the high school.

When it comes to shopping, there are a wide variety of stores available in town. For food and clothing, there is North Mart and Arctic Ventures. North Mart is like Wal-Mart and Arctic Ventures is like . . . Produce Depot with a pinch of Farm Boy. The food selection is exactly the same as in the rest of Canada. You can buy anything up here; domestic & international. Air transportation makes it possible. It also explains where First Air makes most of its money. In the spring, goods can be sea lifted to the town via Montreal. If you don't want to carry everything you've bought, you can get a taxi ride for just $6! Anywhere! There are Tim Horton'sbut they are all self-serve. The Source is the place to go for all electronics including cell phones. I'm pondering on getting a cell phone but I'm hesitant because the phone market up here is dominated by Bell and I've already had one bad experience with them. Because of transportation costs, goods & services can cost up to double than they would in the rest of Canada.

With each passing day, I learned how the students behaved and how things worked at Inuksuk. When a student doesn't want to do the work and not sit in class, they'll ask to go to the washroom or to get a drink of water. They'll use that time to text or visit a friend in another class. Thankfully, most of my students came back when I gave them permission. Like all schools, the first week is also the time when students decide whether they want to change a class. I recall having to change my attendances at least twice because students were coming and going.

In total, I have four Grade 9 guitar classes, spread over 4 days. The two classes near the end of the week are a lower level and need more attention and direction but overall, their behaviour was alright. In all classes, there is at least one student that doesn't like taking guitar and resists trying. In those cases, I use as much positive reinforcement and demonstrations as possible.

The Inuit students in my English class were shy when it came to reading out loud, forcing me to read several passages of the chosen short story until someone volunteered. I know many feel that reading out loud doesn't accomplish much but it is more effective than letting the students read to themselves, because at their level, they'll read it but it'll go in one ear and out the other. The loud gentleman was still skeptical of me and would make an occasional snappy comment or remark, but I didn't let them get to me. He wasn't getting the negative reactions he wanted to see.

My Grade 10 musicians were still proving to be a challenge because they too were testing my boundaries. The girls seemed to be the more focused of the lot while the boys were just being lippy boys. They said they could play the notes but when I pulled them aside, it was pretty obvious that they didn't and that they were just wasting time. Throughout the week, I had to speak to several of them after class and tell them that their attitude needed to improve or else I'd refer them to the guidance counselor. Up here, the guidance counselors, with the support of the teacher, can permanently remove a student from a class.

Another tactic I tried was keeping the boys separated from each other. One no longer wanted to play trombone so I put him in the female dominated clarinet section. Now he was flirting with the girls but focused on learning his new instrument because he wanted to 'show off' his skills to the ladies. I put the two boys who talked back the most on percussion, an area of expertise of mine, meaning I could handle any challenge they could come up with, and I could give them as much attention as they needed. The only hard part now was walking around and making sure everyone was practicing. Getting them to play together was still possible . . . but at least 30 seconds was still required for them to quiet down.

My last weapon in my arsenal proved to be the deadliest: theory. It's the one thing that a lot of beginner & (some) advanced musicians hate. They prefer to play music and learn things by ear rather than learning to sight read. As the difficult students reluctantly completed the handouts, it suddenly dawned on them that passing Grade 10 music wouldn't be easy after all. Some decided to transfer out of the class.

Overall, the first week was productive but ssssllllowwww. At times, it felt like the weekend would never arrive. By the end, I had met the entire staff, knew where all the computer labs were located, and where to get supplies and photocopies. I successfully memorized a lot of names and faces but I needed more time to memorize the rest. I also got used to seeing my students outside of school, particularly at the grocery stores, because several of them work there part time and there isn't a lot of places to congregate. Iqaluit is not like the big Canadian cities where you'd rarely, if ever, see your teachers outside of school. Here, everyone knows & sees everyone else.

The First Day

On the morning of January 30th, I got dressed in a black shirt, a tie, and formal black pants. Even though the teachers dress really casually up here, I chose to make a good first impression. I left the hotel and trudged up to the high school in heavy winter boots, skiing parka, and face mask. The temperature outside was around -30. Once inside, I made my way to the music room and dropped off my knapsack and briefcase. Even though I had spent the weekend preparing, I was still nervous. Before the first school day of the semester began at 8:05 am, I walked down to the main office to see the vice principal about whether I would be teaching an English or Social Studies class. Terry, the principal, was there, speaking to teachers and greeting students. He asked me if I was ready? "Of course!" I replied. "That's exactly what I want to hear, buddy!" he said.

The vice principal assigned me a Grade 11 English class for period 2. I was then introduced to Verna, another English teacher who gave me an activity to keep the students busy. Upon inspecting my attendance list, she pointed out a name and warned me about the student because he was loud and likes to impose his way in the classroom. "If you want to have a good class, address him immediately." When the bell rang, I navigated around the horde of senior students who were waiting for their new schedules. I looked straight ahead and walked to my class as if I had done it many times before. If students smell fear in you, they'll exploit it to the max.

There was a group of Grade 9 students waiting outside my door. My first guitar class. "Are you the new music teacher?" asked one of them. "Yes," I replied as I unlocked the door. The loud students streamed into the room and took their seats . . . eventually. Okay, just like you planned it, I thought. Taking a deep breath, I welcomed them to my class and told them a little about myself. Next, I spoke about how to carefully handle the guitars. And then I asked them to write their names on pieces of paper so that I could learn them later. After collecting the papers, the guitars and guitar books were handed out.

The class consisted of going over the basics, such as, notes on the first string and how to play together as a class. Getting them to pay attention was a bit of a challenge, most likely because they were testing me. After what felt like hours, the 45 minute class was over and the students left as fast as they had entered. The empty seats were then immediately replaced by another Grade 9 class, just as energetic. Taking another deep breath, I started the same lesson.

Forty-five minutes later, I was in a different classroom for Grade 11 English. Several students would need a lot of guidance and support because they were at a lower academic level. A few were even repeating the course. After introductions were made, we began looking at a short story titled, 'Desperate Measures,' that dealt with life in East Berlin during the Cold War. About 20 minutes into the lesson, the student I had been warned about, loudly walked into the classroom listening to music on his iPod. He dropped into a seat at the back and let his bag fall to the floor, landing with a loud 'thud'. In cadets, I would have ordered him to leave and come back inside in a quieter manner but looking at his demeanor, I didn't think that would work. Plus, I had been told that if you yell at an Inuit student, they'll just walk out on you. I decided on a softer approach and reintroduced myself, gave him the short story handout, and told him where we were. I was aware that by not addressing his rude entrance, there was a strong chance he would repeat it in the future, but I hoped that wouldn't be the case if I could win him over. For the rest of the class he mostly listened and did some of the work. One step at a time, I reminded myself.

I spent lunchtime in the teacher's lounge, speaking with the other teaching staff, and taking a break from the students. I'm halfway there, I'm halfway there, I said to myself. Terry had briefly visited one of my classes in the morning to see if I was doing alright. "Terry does that in the mornings & afternoons," one teacher explained. "He's a dedicated principal who walks around and checks on his teachers & students. He knows everything that's happening."

My Grade 11 & 12 music class was the best; there were only 11 students and all of them had experience playing music. They were there to learn and to play. All I had to do was hand out the band textbooks and we just sight read a few pieces. Their sound was good and they had discipline. It was awesome.

I wish I could say the same for my last period class which was Grade 10 music. Most of them were like my Grade 9s - little to no experience playing music. And most of them had an attitude. I immediately realized that this would be my toughest class, despite having two senior students to assist me. They were at that age where they thought they could say anything and get away with it. For this day, they were more concerned with gossiping rather than playing a note from their instruments. Losing my cool on them would not work so I just took the brunt of their behaviour until the end. I guess it was their way of seeing if I could take it or not. I was glad that I was able to get them to play several sounds. And I do mean sounds. Playing notes was not possible at this point. When the last bell finally rang at 3pm, they ran out of the room, not caring how they left it. Alone once again, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had made it.

And then I remembered it was just the first day. If the classroom could speak to me, it would have said, "Welcome to full time teaching!" To relax, I sat at the piano and played a few pieces. Reenergized, I reorganized the music room and stayed until 6pm planning lessons. While walking back to the hotel in the frigid cold, my mind replayed what the full time teachers had said to me all day, "It only gets better from here."

Weekend Preparations

As I walked up the stairs into the heated yellow terminal, it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't know how the principal looked like. And he didn't know my appearance either. Before my arrival, it was agreed that he & the current music teacher would greet me at the airport. But because of the 3 hour delay, I doubted that the music teacher would be present because she was nearly due. Upon entering the main terminal room, I looked for someone holding my name on a board. No luck. I proceeded to the baggage conveyor belt and waited for about five seconds before an older gentleman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was Adrian. When I replied yes, he introduced himself as Terry, the principal of Inukshuk High School, and explained that Mary, the music teacher, couldn't make it.

As we waited for my luggage to arrive, he gave me the keys to my classroom and explained how things worked at the high school. Terry was a Newfoundlander who lived in Iqaluit for over two decades, and had been principal of Inuksuk for many years. I could see that he was well established because he was frequently interrupted by people he knew. Perhaps he knew everyone in Iqaluit? He also explained that I would be staying in a hotel because they had yet to find staff housing for me. He hoped that a place would be found by Tuesday.

After collecting my luggage, we proceeded to his truck where he would drive me to the hotel. He was also giving another teacher a lift because he had come to run a soccer workshop at Inukshuk. Instinctively, I started putting on my seatbelt when I sat in the truck. "You don't have to put that on," said Terry. "Wearing seatbelts is not enforced and nobody wears them anyway."

"Why's that?" I queried.

"Not enforced and because we wear so many layers and jackets."

I was surprised to see so many cars and trucks as we drove into town. Since he chose to drop off the other teacher first, I got a free tour of the main part of town . . at night. I noticed that there were only stop signs at every intersection; no traffic lights. But most importantly, I saw the high school where I would be teaching. He dropped me off at the Nova Inn, now called the Hotel Arctic. Before leaving, he told me to get in contact with Mary so that she could show me the school and the music room. The hotel room I was given was pretty nice with a bed, washroom, small fridge, microwave, tv and plenty of closet space. After bringing in all my luggage, I switched on my laptop and checked my email and Facebook, and then collapsed on the bed, relieved that I had finally made it.

The next morning, Mary picked me up in her truck and drove towards the high school. Before we pulled in, she drove around town, showing where all the important stores & facilities are located. She also explained that most buildings, especially houses are all built on stilts because the hard rocky ground prevents the construction of basements. As I gazed out the window, I was surprised that reality still hadn't hit me. Maybe on the first day of school, I thought.

Once inside the school, she explained that the building was split into 4 sections: green, red, orange, & yellow, and that the music was located in the yellow section, next to the library. The room itself is pretty spacious, with plenty of chairs & music stands. Thirty steel & nylon string guitars hung from two walls, most of them brand new, added Mary. There are also three smaller rooms: teacher's office, storage, and practice. After showing me where all the teaching resources were, explaining what classes I would be teaching, and what routines to do on a regular basis, she left me alone so that I could plan my lessons for the upcoming week. Gazing around the empty classroom, I sank into the nearest chair and humourously wondered, 'What have I gotten myself into?'

Shaking off the thought, I went about preparing for my first day at Inuksuk. I was tasked with teaching Grade 10 music, Grade 11 & 12 music, Grade 9 guitar, and a fourth class that had yet to be determined. These classes were spread across four blocks, each 75 minutes long. In New Zealand, I had only taught classes that were 60 minutes in length. While planning my lessons, I also took some time to practice piano and guitar. Walking back to the hotel was a small challenge because of the cold weather. I must have been obvious that I was a new arrival because I was wearing a face mask, neck warmer, and a toque on my head. But the cold didn't stop me from taking pictures of the beautiful landscape.

On Sunday, after spending another day of planning, Mary invited me to dinner at her place. Since other teachers were attending as well, this was a perfect opportunity to meet them. They asked me where I was from & where I did my teacher's college? When it was my turn, I asked them what the teacher life was like in Iqaluit and at the high school? As they filled my mind with their knowledge and experiences, I realized that despite my best preparations, I was still heading into the first day blind because I didn't know my students and how they would react to my personality and teaching style. As Sunday came to a close, I hoped for a good first day.

Flight of Delays

I woke up nice and early on the morning of January 27th, doing last minute checks on my luggage before having a quick breakfast. Freezing rain was beginning to fall all across town making me wonder if my flight would be delayed or cancelled. When the taxi arrived to take me to the airport, I locked up the house and made sure that everything was in the cab. Even though I had checked in online, I still proceeded to the First Air check in desk because I had to drop off my luggage. Because I had two suitcases and a box full of books, I was over the limit and would have to pay for the box as excess baggage. I told the check in clerk that I had no problem paying the $52 fee but she instead chose to waiver it. Once through security, I walked to my gate, sat down and waited.

To pass the time, I watched a line of snowplows clearing the long runway and a few planes taking off. Contrary to popular belief, the First Air plane was a jet aircraft not a turboprop. Even though it was in a nearby hangar, the plane wasn't brought to the gate until a few minutes after the scheduled departure time. When the plane was ready, boarding announcements were made in English, French, & Inuktitut. The passengers on this flight were a mix of Inuit, Canadians, and Europeans. Once onboard, I was surprised to see how many spare seats there were. I and several other would have an entire row to ourselves.

While the flight crew performed the safety demonstrations, I stared out the window wondering why it hadn't hit me? 'It' being the realization that I was really moving up north to teach high school music. Then the delays started. First was getting clearance from the tower to taxi out of the gate. During this, the plane's backup generator, which was running the heaters and other systems, decided to unexpectedly shutdown. The plane was suddenly filled with deafening silence as the pilots contacted the ground crew to fix the problem. The repairs took some time and already some of the Inuit passengers were getting concerned.

Finally, after twenty more minutes, the plane was moved away from the gate by a pushback tug. From there, we turned to the left and proceeded slowly across the wet tarmac to a long line of aircraft waiting to be deiced before takeoff. Many airplanes required deicing because they were parked at the gates overnight and their entire bodies were covered with frozen rain. The captain informed everyone that we would have to wait for up to 3 hours before our turn. Upon hearing this, I got out my laptop and tried to access the airport's free wi-fi network in order to send an email to the people in Iqaluit and tell them that I would be delayed. Unfortunately, I was unable to connect and having left my cell phone at home, I could not send any message. I could have borrowed someone's cell phone but instead, I spread myself across the row of three seats and passed the time reading, listening to music, and eavesdropping on a few Inuit passengers who were informing a steward that they would be writing letters of complaint to First Air.

There was a moment when my mind replayed the answers to several questions I asked during and after the phone interview. Iqaluit does not have '6 months of day & 6 months of night'; the town has many modern facilities despite its isolated location; and the students are very friendly. The fact that really stuck out was that I was going to be the only music teacher at Inuksuk High School. No way, I thought to myself, they were just pulling my leg. On the other hand, if they really were telling the truth, then I was really being thrown into the driver's seat.

Finally, after 3 hours, it was our turn. Unfortunately, the flight crew did not serve any drinks or snacks during the long wait. I'm glad I had some apples in my backpack. The deicing took about 10 minutes and then the pilots taxied the plane to the runway. We took off at 12:45pm, three hours behind schedule.

The flight to Iqaluit lasted another 3 hours. I couldn't snap any photos of the ground below until the last hour because low hovering clouds blocked my view. For the breakfast meal, I chose the muffin, yogurt, and fruit salad combination. It was good but not great. The sun began to set when the plane descended towards Iqaluit. At first, all I could see was white snow & ice covering the ground & lakes, and tall mountains & ridges in the distance. A few minutes before landing, the ground below gave way to snow covered roads and many brightly lit houses, warehouses, and office buildings. So this is what Iqaluit looks like from the air, I thought to myself.

The plane touched down with ease and slowly taxied to the large yellow coloured terminal. The captain welcomed us to Iqaluit and informed us that the temperature was -26. When the plane halted and powered down, I put on all my winter clothing, face mask included, and collected my carry-on luggage. I proceeded with the other passengers to the exit at the back of the plane. I was greeted by a gust of cold air as I slowly climbed down the step ladder. I paused on the last step, took a deep breath, and then placed my right foot on the tarmac. Then my left. I was now on Nunavut soil for the first time.