Getting The Job Done

Starting from the 17th of September, my Grade 10 guitarists had their first test on the drum set.  They were required to play 4 simple backbeat patterns.  Even though the course is supposed to be about guitar only, I decided to incorporate other instruments as well.  My students will learn a bit of percussion, bass guitar, electric guitar, and piano.  Usually, these instruments are present whenever there is a guitar, so why not?  They spent the remainder of the week working on chords in order to prepare for their chord test on the following Tuesday.  Most were prepared while several others required more practice time.  To finish off the month, my guitarists looked at several well known melody lines, such as, Sea Shanty and La Bamba.

            

In Grade 11 English, we continued with the poetry unit, looking at poems by E.E.Cummings, Edgar Allen Poe, and Robert W. Service.  E.E. Cummings, the famed 20th century American poet, was perhaps the only poet I ever enjoyed reading in high school because he broke most, if not all, the rules on writing poetry.  With Edgar Allen Poe, my students looked at his most popular poem, The Raven.  And of course, the chosen Robert W. Service poem was The Cremation of Sam McGee.  As a review of the first two units, my students had a short story/poetry quiz on the 18th.  For the following week, we looked at sentence structure and how to avoid writing padded, overloaded, and run-on sentences.  Next week, we'll be starting the novel unit, studying the classic novella, Of Mice and Men.         

            

I know it's early, but I decided to hand out several Christmas themed pieces to my senior & junior musicians for the upcoming Christmas concert in December.  Nothing wrong with getting a head start, right?  With the month of October just around the corner, I have also been thinking about putting on a Halloween concert on Wednesday, the 31st.  I have already found two pieces with scary undertones.  I'll be handing them out to my juniors and seniors on Monday.  I'll need to find more because two pieces are not enough for a concert.  All that's left is to speak with the principal about whether a concert can be arranged on that day.

            

Concert planning aside, my seniors have been looking at a variety of songs, ranging from Disney to TV themes.  My students have taken a liking to the Disney tunes, Under the Sea & I Just Can't Wait To Be King.  The TV theme they have chosen is the old Hockey Night In Canada theme song.  We can't learn the new theme because I don't have the score and we lack the required bagpipes.  For next week, my seniors will be looking at more theory, starting with minor scales, because we're running a bit behind.

            

My junior musicians have steadily improved in the last two weeks and are beginning to sound like a concert band.  There still is the random squeak here and there but that is to be expected.  We're all glad that we have passed the noise-making stage and are in the transitional period of going from sound to music.  In musical theory, they looked at dotted notes & rests, musical ties, and basic time signatures.  Next week, we'll be looking at more complicated time signatures and tones & semitones.

            

With all of the above happening in school, my time outside of school has been mostly spent on marking class work and recording marks.  This isn't a difficult task; just time consuming.  I know some teachers can do what I like to call 'speed-marking' but I haven't developed that skill yet.  I like to take my time and make sure that I'm marking everything correctly.

            

For the last two weeks, the delayed sealift vessels have arrived and been offloading large shipping containers onto barges that are then towed to the shoreline.  The towing can only happen during the high tides in the middle of the day.  I'm guessing one of those containers contained all the new furniture that arrived at the high school on Friday, September 21st.  As I was leaving the school to enjoy my weekend, I was surprised to see so many stacked boxes in the main foyer.  The boxes contained new tables, chairs, bookshelves, and desks, all of which were distributed to newly renovated classrooms and the library.    

            

On the evening of September 25th, the high school had its first 'Meet The Teacher Night'.  Wearing black dress pants & shoes, a silver collared shirt, piano tie, and a name tag, I stood with the other teachers in the cafeteria and chatted with parents.  I was expecting to meet the parents of all the students I taught but unfortunately, that did not happen.  Visiting parents & their children were treated to a well prepared reception of caribou stew (I had two servings), bannock, cookies, and juice.  Overall, I think the meetings with parents went quite well. 

            

The last week of September was Nunavut Literacy Week, an event organized by the Nunavut Literacy Council.  The event is designed to promote literacy and to encourage young people to read in Inuktitut, English, and French.  Three school wide activities took place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Monday's activity was having students read for 15 minutes.  On Wednesday, chosen classes had to create posters that showcased what books students' read.  And the most creative activity took place on Friday, where classes were organized in groups of three and engaged in a round-robin of story writing.  My Grade 11 English class had to write a beginning, middle, and end to three different short stories.  Let's just say there were a few hilarious moments.  The activity reminded me of the game Mad Libs. 

            

On Thursday, September 27, the entire high school participated in a garbage cleanup of the school grounds and surrounding area.  My group was assigned an area across the Brown Building.  Armed with black garbage bags and blue plastic gloves, we picked up whatever we could find: pop cans, newspapers, cigarette cartons, chip bags, candy wrappers, and more.  We also found some interesting items, such as: a sweater, suitcase handle, and an iron bar.  When the cleanup was finished, we all headed back inside for hotdogs and juice.  I was glad to see students doing their part in keeping the town clean.

            

On the air cadet front, the squadron staff met the Commanding Officer of the Regional Cadet Support Unit (RSCU) from the Prairie Region.  Lieutenant-Colonel Rob W. Kamphius was touring Nunavut to see what the cadet scene up north looked like.  Due to the recent budget cuts by the federal Conservative Government, the Northern Region (Yukon, Northwest, & Nunavut) has been merged with the Prairie Region (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, & Western Ontario).  The reactions are still a bit mixed because the Prairie Region is not like the North, but there are some benefits to the merger.  The most obvious is that Northern Cadets are now able to compete in Prairie competitions (band, drill, biathlon, sports, etc.), thus giving northern units more exposure and more units to compete with.

            

Moving on to local news, Iqaluit has still been experiencing a few power outages as city workers upgrade the town's power grid.  The good news is that the outages were planned and citizens were given advance notice.  It still would have been nice if the outages did not happen at all, but it's a necessary annoyance considering that the 40 year old power plant & power grid are in need of upgrades.

            

On October 15, Iqaluit residents will be heading to the polls to vote for a new mayor, and to decide whether the city should be allowed to borrow enough money to pay for the construction of a new aquatic centre next to city hall.  The current pool at The Brown Building has become too small for the needs of residents.  It can only hold 35 people and is prone to breakdowns.  The new aquatic centre is designed to accommodate up to 250 people in a 25 metre pool.  There will also be a leisure pool, water slide, fitness centre, larger change rooms, and an Elders Area.  For $40.6 million, I hope the town votes yes.

            

Lastly, the federal government recently announced a pledge of $77 million to improve the Iqaluit International Airport.  The money will partially cover the $250 - $300 million that is needed for the entire project.  The project calls for a new terminal building, expanded aprons, new lighting systems, and an upgraded runway.  Construction is to take place between 2014 & 2017. 

Life In The Fast Lane

I have to admit that for the last several days, I felt like a very important person.  The week of September 10 - 14 had been filled with high profile meetings, photo ops, welcome speeches, and presentations.  I'm surprised that I still had time to prepare classes and mark assignments.

        

The week started off with a guitar/songwriting workshop with Dave Gunning, a well known Canadian Folk/Celtic singer/songwriter from Nova Scotia.  Since 1997, he has released 9 albums, received two Canadian Folk Music Awards, and received a Juno Award nomination.  He is well known for incorporating storytelling in his music.  He had come to Iqaluit to perform his music at Nakasuk Middle School on September 8th.  I had wanted to go to the concert but I was ill that day. 

            

The workshop was organized by Heather Daley, the founder and current Executive Director of the Alianait Arts Festival.  She is the same lady with whom I collaborated in organizing a workshop with the Canadian folk group April Verch back in May.  Unfortunately, that workshop had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

            

Due to Dave's tight schedule, he only had time to be with my senior students for the first half of the 90 minute period.  Heather was also there to observe and to take pictures.  My students sat in a semicircle around Dave as he played a few of his songs on his guitar.  He prefers tuning his guitar openly rather than relying on a tuner.  After each song, he talked about what songwriting involves: brainstorming, collaborating, chord progressions, and inspirations.  Unfortunately, he didn't have time to go in depth - something my students were hoping for - because he had a flight to catch back to Ottawa.  Overall, Dave is a very good singer and guitar player.  After the workshop, he spoke with the students and even posed for pictures.

            

Dave Gunning recently ran into some trouble with the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) over the cover art of his upcoming album, No More Pennies.  Since the cover includes several of the soon-to-be retired 1-cent coins, the RCM claimed them as intellectual property and wanted Dave to pay a $1,200 royalty fee for every 2,000 CDs that would be produced and distributed.  However, thanks to a flood of media stories, the RCM came to its senses and decided to waiver the fee & "assess its current intellectual property policy." 

            

Tuesday evening was the first cadet training night at 795 Iqaluit Air Squadron.  The unit stands at 20 members but that number would increase thanks to 12 new recruits.  The commanding officer, Captain Chubbs, welcomed everyone back from the summer holidays and presented certificates to cadets who successfully completed their summer camp courses.  After the opening parade, the recruits were introduced to the training staff and given a tour of the cadet building.  Relying on the public speaking skills I acquired during my undergrad years, I quickly came up with an introductory speech, welcoming the recruits to the unit, assuring them that they made the right choice, and that I hoped to see them in the newly created band program.  For the time being, it'll still be percussion based.

            

Wednesday night was the highlight of the week because of the arrival of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex.  The British couple were paying Iqaluit a royal two-day visit, the first royal visit in 10 years.  The air cadet squadron had been requested to provide an Honour Guard and I was lucky to be allowed to tag along.  I finally had an opportunity to wear my black suit.

            

We made our way to the RCMP hangar at the Iqaluit Airport where the greeting ceremony was to take place.  The hangar was already crawling with RCMP and plain clothes officers.   The plane was scheduled to arrive at around 2050 (8:50pm) giving us forty minutes to prepare.  As the minutes ticked by, more important people began to arrive: Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, Commissioner Edna Elias, and RCMP Superintendant Steve McVarnock, just to name a few.  When the plane carrying the royal couple landed, everyone in the hangar took their places and stood at attention.  The officers and I stood to the right side of cadet display.

            

The main hangar doors were opened, filling the interior with cold air, and the sounds of the plane's engines.  The plane taxied as close to the hangar as possible, giving the royal couple the least amount of distance to walk in the rain.  Premier Aariak and Commissioner Elias were the first to greet the Prince and the Countess before escorting them down the line of visiting guests.  The Prince then took to the dias where he was saluted by the cadets on parade.  Thereafter, he and his wife inspected each cadet, officer, and civilian on parade.  The Countess received a small bouquet of Arctic Cotton from a senior cadet.  

            

I have to admit that I was a little nervous because this was the first time I have ever spoken to members of the British Royal Family.  I had been instructed that only the royal offers his/her hand to be shaken.  Captain Chubbs introduced me as the civilian band officer of the air cadet unit and Prince Edward wanted me to explain the music program.  I relaxed when I realized that speaking to royalty was a lot easier than I thought.  When I spoke with the Countess, I added that I was also a music teacher at Inuksuk High School.    

            

After the parade, the Prince & the Countess mingled with the cadets and posed for photographs.  Due to their tight schedule, they only had 20 minutes, but by my calculations, they stayed for about thirty.  After the royal couple had left, I briefly chatted with Commissioner Elias.   Although the visit was brief, I think the cadets would agree that it was a fun and exciting experience.  The Earl & Countess would spend the remainder of their visit touring Nunatta Sunakkutaangiit Museum & the newly rebuilt St. Jude's Cathedral, attending an RCMP awards ceremony at the Legislative Assembly, and attend a communal feast at St. Jude's Parish Hall.     

            

The week finished with the taking of student & class photos.  A section of the school's cafeteria had been transformed into a photo studio.  Between Thursday & Friday, classes were called down one at a time.  For my class photo, I instructed my students to bring their instruments with them.  Band students do photos with style!  I was glad that the photographer took several pictures because I'm a notorious blinker when it comes to the use of flash.  At the moment, I can only hope that I didn't ruin the class and staff pictures.        

            

The weather has been getting colder with every passing day, bringing strong winds, rain, and fog.  Many of Iqaluit's unpaved roads turn into long stretches of mud and brown puddles.  To clean up the mess, the town uses snowplows to 'pave' over the puddles.  The cold weather has also been affecting the health of the community with many people catching the common cold.    

            

And for the first time in Nunavut's history, the residents of Iqaluit will be required to wear seatbelts when operating a vehicle.  In the past, wearing seatbelts was entirely optional.  The only explanation I heard of was that it was difficult to put on a seatbelt while wearing a large winter parka.  I guess drivers will now have to find a way to buckle up unless they want to risk getting a ticket.  So far, RCMP officers have only given out warnings, but it's a safe bet they'll be issuing tickets in the coming days.   

The Second Week

Unlike the previous two weeks, the second week of the school year was calmer and mostly uneventful.  The fun & glamour of going back to school had faded and students realized that there was work and studying to be done.  Instead of running around, I was now spending most of my time correcting work and recording marks. 

            

Classes were only interrupted twice by fire drills, giving staff & students the opportunity to memorize where the exits are and where to assemble outside.  I was never a fan of the fire alarm when I was in school because it was loud, piercing, and prone to cause headaches.  Now it's just a minor inconvenience.

            

In guitar world, my grade 10s focused on learning several classic rock riffs.  They had requested them and I happily obliged because the riffs also showed them how chords are used to write catchy tunes.  My Grade 11 English students read several more short stories on a variety of topics.  Next week, we would begin the poetry unit.  My senior musicians focused on the jazz piece Take Five by Paul Desmond & The Final Countdown by Europe.  As for my junior musicians, they were still in the noise-making stage so I focused on getting them to make actual sounds with their instruments.  I hoped that actual music would emerge next week.       

            

On Tuesday, when I was going home for lunch, I spotted a rather large airplane approaching the airport.  At first, I thought it was a First Air cargo plane bringing supplies but as it flew by, I saw that the plane belonged to American Airlines.  I don't recall American Airlines serving Iqaluit, I thought to myself.  After researching on the Internet, it turns out the large Boeing 777 had to make an unexpected landing due to a medical emergency.  The flight originated from London's Heathrow Airport and was flying to Los Angeles.  One person was taken to the hospital and released shortly after.  Iqaluit is located near the over-the-top route used by commercial planes to ferry passengers between North America and Europe.  The paved runway is long enough to handle the largest passenger planes.

            

All over town, I spotted people taking pictures of landmarks and the surrounding landscape with expensive cameras.  Upon looking out into Frobisher Bay, I noticed that a small cruise ship had arrived.  A cargo vessel had arrived as well and was anchored several metres behind the cruise ship.  Since there is no deep sea port for docking, tourists were ferried to land by small boats.  After doing some research on the Internet I'm willing to bet that the company that operated the cruise ship was One Ocean Expeditions.  I should have asked a passing tourist for confirmation but didn't have the time. 

            

On Thursday night, I attended a brief meeting with the officers of 795 Iqaluit Air Squadron.  We discussed the upcoming training year, special events, and what clubs would be supported.  I was glad to hear that the squadron was able to secure the funding I requested for the band program we wanted to start.  All that was required now was to get the necessary cadets to carry and play the instruments.  A recruiting drive took place at the high school this past Saturday, and from what I heard, we got several new recruits.  

            

To finish off the second week of school, students were allowed to sign up for extra-curricular activities during last period on Friday.  I let it be known that the music room would be open to students after school if they wanted to jam with others or write music.  I was glad to see that quite a few had signed up.  The Physical Education teachers also hosted a Ring Road event where those students who signed up, ran the entire length of Ring Road, the main artery that runs through the centre of town.  Conveniently, the road circles the high school.

            

And lastly, Arctic Ventures, a locally owned store that has been selling food, pet supplies, electronics, and clothes since 1985, has recently been sold to Arctic Co-operatives.  The new owners take over on November 1st.  The previous proprietor, Kenn Harper, believes that there won't be any major changes once the new owners move in.  If that's true, then I guess the anti-loitering music will continue to play outside the front entrance.  

The First Two Hectic Weeks

(My apologies for not writing sooner, but it's been a hectic two weeks).

            

Upon entering my apartment, I was glad to see that everything was still in the same place as I had left them at the end of June.  I unpacked my belongings and swept the whole place clean.  When everything was in order, I walked down to the NorthMart and did some light grocery shopping; light because my parents had shipped three boxes of food via First Air.  I would pick them all up several days later.  I also hopped over to Arctic Ventures to see if I needed any office/electronic supplies.  Sure enough, the local establishment is still playing Hindu music and Gilbert & Sullivan operas to ward off loiterers in front of the store.

            

The week of August 19 - 25 was devoted to getting my class ready for the upcoming school year.  I was surprised that the school renovations had yet to be completed.  The main foyer, stairwells, and main office areas were still littered with power tools and construction materials.  Thankfully, the music room was still accessible and I wasted no time putting everything in order.  Near the end of the week I met the rest of the teaching staff at the first staff meeting of the year where we were given our schedules.  For this semester, I would be teaching 4 full classes: Grade 10 Guitar, Grade 11 English, 11&12 Music, and Grade 10 Music.  I would have no prep period.

            

School started on the afternoon of August 27 for Grade 9 students only.  That gave me and many other teachers an extra day to put the finishing touches on our lessons for the first week.  I have to admit that despite having prepared lessons, I still had feelings of uncertainty.  I had yet to meet my students so I didn't know if what I had prepared would go over well.  On the positive side, I was much more prepared this time than in January - back then, I only had two days to get ready.

            

The first day & week of school are always the slowest of the year; after that, the days & weeks fly by.  Most of my music students were from last year; only my English students were completely new.  The first day was mostly devoted to going over the course outlines, highlighting what will be taught, and on what students will be assessed.  There was, of course, time to go over the rules of the classroom.

            

For the rest of the week, my Grade 10 Guitar students practiced chords & chord progressions.  In English, we began the short story unit by reading Henry Slesar's 'Examination Day' and Alan Shadrake's 'Desperate Measures'.  My Grade 11 & 12 music class would be small again with only 9 students.  They're currently working on an arrangement of John Lennon's 'Imagine'. 

            

At the moment, it appears that my junior band will be pretty big this semester with 15 students.  Last semester, I started with 18 but it dropped to 9.  I don't think that will happen with this group; they seem really interested in concert band studies.  Since they are all beginners, I devoted the entire first week to getting down the basics: choosing an instrument, putting it together, how to make a proper sound, proper posture, and following the conductor.  By Friday, they were able to play two songs: 'Jaws' by John Williams and the chorus to 'We Will Rock You' by Queen.

            

Most of the renovations were completed by August 31.  All that remained was painting the outer walls of the high school.     

            

On the weather front, the snow hasn't started falling.  It's still an autumn-like environment.  From the teachers I spoke to, the snow doesn't arrive until the beginning of October.  This is reassuring to many in Iqaluit because they did not receive all of their supplies from the annual sealift.  During the brief summer months when the ice melts, large ships deliver thousands of tons of cargo (you name it, they ship it) to northern communities from Montreal.  Unfortunately, not all the thick ice in Frobisher Bay melted, preventing the local barges to be towed out to the awaiting cargo ship(s) at high tide to unload the large shipping containers.  This long process is the only available option because Iqaluit does not have a deep sea port.  The delayed sealift orders are scheduled to arrive from mid to late September.  The delay has prompted calls for the construction of a deep sea port.        

            

The high cost of food in the North is still a hot topic, even after several high profile protests back in June.  Another protest took place on August 25 in front of the Iqaluit NorthMart.  The protest was organized by Leetia Janes, the creator of the Facebook Group, Feeding My Family.  Since its creation back in June, the Facebook group has over 21,000 members and has become the primary outlet for Northerners to voice their displeasures over the high cost of healthy foods.  Outside Facebook, Feeding My Family now has its own dedicated website.  I thought prices had started to go down across the board but I guess that has yet to happen.  Just a few days ago, I overheard that the average family spends between $200 - $300 a week on food.  I don't spend that much because I only have one mouth to feed.  The only high price that recently caught my attention was for the 890ml Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise I bought for $11.30!             

And finally, Iqaluit's only power plant is in the midst of a much needed renovation.  The building and its four diesel generators are over 40 years old.  From a distance it would appear that a large new section is being added, and the outer walls of the original structure are being stripped and replaced.  The unfortunate consequence of the renovation is rolling blackouts.  So far, four have hit my apartment block at various times in the last two weeks.  It's a tolerable annoyance because in the end, the Nunavut capital will have a more modern & robust power plant.