Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Canada and other Commonwealth countries on
November 11. The day relates to the end
of the First World War in 1918, when hostilities in Europe ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of
the 11th month". The day is
set aside for people to remember the
members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Around 7,000 Aboriginals (Inuit, Métis, First
Nations) participated in the First & Second World Wars and the Korean War.
Iqaluit's Remembrance Day Service
took place at the 795 Cadet Hall on a cold, but bright, Sunday morning. The Parade Square had been converted into a
large seating area, with enough blue chairs to seat about 250 people. A wooden display at the front was set up for
the many wreaths that would be hanged. Slowly,
the hall became filled with people, including visiting dignitaries,
politicians, RCMP officers, Rangers, Veterans, and Legion members. Of course, the air cadets of 795 Iqaluit
Squadron were there to act as wreath layers, hold flags, and to stand guard
next to the wreath display. I took a
position at the back to take photographs.
The ceremony began with the playing
of O Canada followed by the Last Post, One Minute Silence, Lament, and
Reveille. The Last Post & Reveille
bugle calls were played by Flight-Sergeant Neigo-Akavak on the trumpet. The Lament was played by a piper whose name I
do not know. Next was a reading of the
famous poem 'In Flanders Field' by Flight-Sergeant Bychok. The poem was written by Canadian physician
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in 1915.
The wreath laying was the longest part of the ceremony; some 54 wreaths
were presented.
The Iqaluit Community Choir,
conducted by Eva Paul & Peter Workman, sang two songs: "In
Memorium", composed by Bill Douglas with lyrics by Tennyson; and "For
That Tomorrow" - music & lyrics by Nigel J.C. Turnbull. The ceremony concluded with the playing of
"God Save the Queen" followed by the March Off of the Colours. The audience quickly filed out of the cadet
hall because the Legion was hosting a free lunch next door. The cadets got to eat first while everyone
else had to wait in line. As always, the
food was delicious, especially the prime roast.
Inuksuk High School played host to a
territorial wide badminton tournament on the weekend of the November 17 - 19. Teams from all the communities came to
participate. School on the Friday was
pretty crowded, with students and teachers having to navigate around piles of
luggage. I'm not sure what the final
results were but I'm sure that some Inuksuk High students won some medals. The trip back home for some visiting teams
took longer on Monday because their towns were suffering from blizzards. Several teams had to even fly to Yellowknife
first before hopping on a connecting flight.
On
Monday, November 19, the students of Inuksuk High were treated to a one-hour
concert by Canadian folk & blues singer-songwriter Suzie Vinnick. She is originally from Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, but is now based in Toronto, Ontario. She has won 5 Maple Blues Awards for Best
Female Vocalist, and has been nominated for two Junos. What some of you may not know is that she also
sang the famous 'Always fresh. Always Tim Hortons' jingle for the last five
years.
Taking centre stage, Suzie Vinnick
played several of her well known songs on acoustic guitar and told her story of
becoming a professional musician. While
I listened and watched, I made a mental note of reminding my Grade 10
guitarists that her blues playing was exactly what they were learning in class.
She also took time to answer questions
from students. They were pretty generic
but one student asked her if she could make up a song on the spot. So she did . . . about him and it turned out okay. After the performance, she signed a few
autographs and posed for some pictures.
As a gift for Inuksuk's music program, she gave me a copy of her latest
album Me 'N' Mabel.
The big news of the week for
students was the issuing of midterm report cards. I did my best to not use any teacher jargon
when I wrote my comments. I also tried
to stay away from using provided comments and write something that applies just
to that student. The main complaint from
parents is that report cards are hard to read & understand because they're
filled with teacher jargon - confusing words/phrases that don't really say
anything. In a way, teachers are forced
to do this because they can't be blunt and tell a parent that their child can't
learn or they're perfect in every way.
Most of my students were happy with their marks while others were
concerned.
Parent teacher interviews took place
on Thursday, November 22 for the entire day.
Because of this, the students had the day off. I was hoping to meet the parents/guardians of
all my students but I had to settle with much less. I was glad to have some visitors, otherwise,
I would have fallen asleep in my office.
The parents that did come wanted to know how their child was doing in
class and what could they do to improve their marks.
Friday was an In-Service Day for all high
school teachers meaning there weren't any classes. Including Saturday & Sunday, the students
of Inuksuk High had a four-day weekend.
An In-Service Day is the same as a Professional Development (PD) Day
down in Ontario. The schedule was filled
with staff & department meetings.
Roles of the Guidance Counselor, the introduction of a new Grade 10
social studies module on the Residential School System, and putting forth
suggestions towards improving/adding to the newly renovated library were
specifically discussed.
The high school was alive and
jumping this morning (Saturday) because of a large craft fair. The cafeteria, main foyer, and gym had all
been set up with tables and chairs the night before for the many sellers who would
be selling their merchandise. When I
arrived at 11am, the parking lot was full of cars and all three areas inside
were swarming with people looking for a good deal. Admission for adults was $2; children got in
free. The goods being sold were from the
following categories: food, clothing, jewelry, arts & crafts, portraits, literature,
toys, and music. It felt like the entire
town was taking part in the event because I met many familiar faces. What was even more surprising was the amount
of money I spent. All I can say is that
bringing $100 was not enough. But I'm
glad that I did my part in supporting local sellers.
And finally, there's only two weeks
to go until the Christmas Concert. There's
still much to do: finding other acts, advertising, and putting together a
program. All the pieces have been
selected and introduced to my students; all they need to do now is practice
them like there's no tomorrow. The
lunchtime practices with both bands will be starting this week.
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