It’s Raining Candy!

New week, new school! We were very excited to teach at Pigurivik this week with some of the younger students! We taught smoking and nutrition in the grade 3 and 4 classes. Though the K-2 students are adorable, they have not learned English or French yet, so sadly we couldn’t teach to them. Thanks to an Inuktitut translator, the classes with the grade 3 and 4 students were both informative and fun. The students love activities and visuals so our board outlining the dangerous chemicals that are in a cigarette, our black vs. pink lungs, and jars of tar and mucus were a big hit! Thank you to Mary, the guidance counselor at Ikusik, for providing these resources. A final thank you to Richard (the principal at Pigurivik) and all the staff and students for welcoming us into your school for the week.

Erinn playing smoking bingo with the students!

Emmaline helping one of the students build her “healthy dinner” through drawings.

Our week started on a very exciting note on Monday when we heard the annual “Salluit Candy Drop” would be taking place that evening. We weren’t sure about all the details when we went down to the frozen bay at 7:30pm but we left amazed! A Twin Otter airplane flew over the bay and dropped thousands of dollars worth of candy, money and prizes out its “bomb door”. The whole town was on the bay watching the plane fly over their heads as out comes everything from clothes to candy to toilet paper. It was raining candy! Everyone of all ages was excited to participate in this fun (and competitive) event. You’d be surprised how fast you people can jump icebergs to grab a Coffee Crisp or rescue a bag of chips as it floats away. If you were lucky enough to catch an envelope with writing on it, it could be turned in for bigger prizes, such as a TV, electronics and money! A huge thank you to the pilot, the village and the Northern Villages government who allowed us to participate in this fun event that marks the beginning of spring.

The town preparing for the Candy Drop!

Erinn won a hat, one glove, lots of candy and a children’s Salluit sweatshirt… it might have been a bit small!

We’re all winners 🙂

The rest of the week was busy with fun activities as we hosted two “Boy’s to Man-athons”! We have been having a great time with the girls with our weekly girls’ nights since we arrived, so it was definitely the boys’ turn to have some fun! Wednesday after school we held a huge competition for the primary boys (grades 5 & 6) that involved a lot of dodgeball, soccer-baseball, races and floor hockey! Thursday after school was a similar itinerary, this time with the secondary boys (grades 7-12). The older boys (or should we say men now?) asked us if we could have an “Inuit High-Kick” portion of the competition, and we excitedly agreed. It was very interesting and new experience to see this cultural sport and we were very impressed with the boys’ abilities. Emmaline and Erinn both tried (and failed) to kick the bean-bag as we are lacking the skill, flexibility and strength that these boys have!

Erinn and some of the boys getting pumped for the competition

Friday morning was our last time teaching at the Boys’ Rehab Centre. We taught a lesson on healthy relationships and different types of abuse.  We were lucky to be invited to play baseball with them again after the lesson. It was a gorgeous sunny day! We also had lunch together up at the Rehab Centre.  A big thank you to the boys for their continual enthusiasm and participation during our lessons, and thank you to the staff the Centre for having us!

Friday afternoon brought even more excitement as the sun continued to shine all day with the Salluit Terry Fox Run! We were so impressed with all of the hard work the grade 11 class put into organizing the run… it most definitely paid off! We could not have asked for better weather or a better turn out of students. The run was a 1km route that students and teachers could choose to run as many times as they wished, receiving a stamp each time they completed a lap. Some classes from Pigurivik and the boys from the Rehab Centre joined in as well! The mayor of Salluit brought a big track for the students to try and pull with a rope, and they were successful! It represented the strength and power they can have when they work together. The girls from the Junior Leader program helped out by making smoothies for the participants, and powered the blender using a bicycle! Erinn ended up with 7 stamps on her face, completing each loop with a new set of eager students! Emmaline may not have had quite as many stamps but she completed the loop with some adorable little kids and even had a baby in an Inuit coat for a kilometer! We are so thankful to have teachers at like Claude and Maggie at Ikusik who make these events such a success. Congratulations to all who participated!

Terry Fox Run! 5 degrees Celsius is definitely T-Shirt weather up here!

Such a great turnout

Almost as cute as the puppies!

We can’t believe that a week from today we’ll be on our way back down south. Though we are very sad to be leaving so soon, we are proud of what we have accomplished over the past 5 weeks and even more proud of the students we have met here. We are excited to finish off our trip with one more week full of smiles, laughs and excitement! Stay posted for our last week here!

One Month Already?!

Another amazing week in Salluit! Last week we enjoyed our second girl’s night full of baking (and eating) delicious cookies. We had a blast finishing up our smoking and alcohol lessons and we were very excited to have some students approach us about trying to quit smoking. It’s nice to know that they can trust us and that they are listening to our lessons!

Girl’s night numéro deux!

We celebrated a week of hard work last Sunday by going on a hike to a waterfall located near Salluit. We couldn’t find the waterfall and ended up on a very wet, snowy 9 hour hike through the Tundra! Emmaline’s boots are STILL wet a week later. Luckily the tundra is beautiful so we were smiling even after a very long day, especially when we finally saw the town after 9 hours in the snow! We were lucky to see an arctic fox near the end of our hike as well. We were very happy to have the holiday Monday to recover from the long hike.

Nearing the end of our 9 hour hike! Spirits still high 🙂

This week we taught safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases and puberty at Ikusik. Though the kids might have been a bit giggly at first, it served to be a fun and informative week of teaching. We are very appreciative of Mary, the guidance counselor and student mentor at Ikusik, for her support in these lessons. She helped to translate important messages into Inuktitut during each class and provided us with resources which were tri-lingual (Inuktitut, French and English).

 

We were happy to have another successful girls night this Thursday deemed “Spa Night”. We enjoyed facemasks and of course more nail painting. We definitely shared a few laughs over how alien-like we looked covered with goop on our faces!

Loving the facials at this week’s Girl’s Night!

We wrapped up another awesome week of teaching on Friday by teaching at the Boys’ Rehab Center in the morning. We were so impressed again by the boy’s questions, interest and manners. We were happy to be invited to play baseball with them after our lesson and got to enjoy the beautiful spring weather. In the afternoon we were lucky to M.C. the Salluit Spring 2014 Talent Show featuring so many talented students and teachers! A huge thank you to Barb, Alan and Geneviève who made the whole thing possible!

The talent show was definitely a success!

As we finished up our fourth week here by teaching students about the changes happening in their bodies, we are marveling at the changes happening around us in Salluit. Just a few weeks ago when we arrived, the town was buried in snow. Now the sun is shining and the snow is melting. In fact, we were shocked to see a 6-foot tall staircase that has suddenly appeared since the snow melted! We were also lucky that we saw the Northern Lights our first week here because it is officially 24 hours of light and therefore too bright to spot them again!

Still this light out at 3:00am!

 

It’s near impossible to believe that we have already been here for a month, and that we only have 2 weeks left. We have fallen in love with this town, these people and the adorable husky puppies that joined the community a few weeks ago. We are sad to be leaving so soon but we are excited to make the most out of our next two weeks with a class trip to the pool, a Boys-to-Man-athon, the Terry Fox Run and the Amazing Race: Salluit Style! Stay Tuned! 🙂

We are “literally dying” because we “can’t even” believe how cute these puppies are!

 

 

 

 

Super Second Week in Salluit!

 

Hello from Northern Paradise!

 

We finished off our first week of teaching on a great note by playing outside in the amazing weather we’ve been having! We tried to bake the teachers cranberry oatmeal cookies to say thank you for a great week, but unfortunately we burnt most of them!

 

 

 

We have been really lucky, it’s been clear blue skies most days. The teachers and students say we will probably have three more snowstorms before we leave, but that’s hard to imagine with this weather. The last half of our week we were teaching Physical Activity, and what better way to learn than getting outside and exercising!? We ended up learning from the kids though as they taught us their favourite games, the clear winner being a game called bomballaway (or atleast that’s what it sounds like… we still don’t know exactly what they were saying). It’s similar to tag and we had a blast playing it with the different classes of all ages.

 

 

 

After a great first week of teaching, the grade 5 French teacher Carol took us out on the land to celebrate! We went out with two other teachers fro Ikusik as well. We were very excited to be able to go on out on the land so early into our project. We went ski-dooing and hiking for 6 hours! The weather was great. We went out to a canyon, and hiked the mountains for a few hours. The views were incredible; the tundra seems to go on forever. It is also very peaceful and quite out on the land. Our Sunday, we were fortunate enough to go out on the land again! This time Carol took us out to Sugluk Island, which is a part of Nunavut! The island is on the opening of Hudson Bay, and the views were incredible. We hiked the island for a few hours, exploring the tundra and making inuksuit. It was great weekend and we were lucky to have such welcoming hosts!

 

This past week we focused our lessons on Bullying and Conflict Resolution, Self-Esteem, and Healthy Relationships and Abuse. We asked the teachers and guidance counsellors which subjects would be appropriate for the different grades, and taught the classes accordingly. It was a busy week of teaching, but it went well. The topics can be difficult to approach at first, but they are important topics and we hope we were able to have a positive impact. We are getting to know the students much better already.

 

On Thursday night we held out first Girls’ Night! We had about 20 students come out after school from different grades. We listened to music, painted nails, made Mothers’ Day cards and snacked on popcorn! The girls enjoyed making cards out of construction paper and other craft supplies we brought up. It was impressive to see the cards written in Inuktitut, French and English. It was a fun evening 🙂  Afterwards, we played a pick up game of soccer in the school gym with some teachers and locals.

 

 

On Friday morning we went up to the Rehab Centre for boys. It’s a centre for boys from across Nunavik. We taught about the dangers of smoking and alcohol abuse. The class was very well behaved and receptive to the teaching. We are looking forward to returning next week!

 

On Saturday we helped fundraise for one of our students, Mary, to travel to Hawaii to run a race! One of the two grocery stores in Salluit, Northern, has an annual program to help send students abroad. The race is in support of diabetes research, and we helped fundraise for that by selling raffle tickets, handmade scarves, hot chocolate, slushies and coffee. Good luck Mary!

Carol took us out four-wheeling on the land this weekend, as the snow is already beginning to melt! We rock climbed a hiked a few mountains, seeing more gorgeous views!

 

 

 

A great second week in Salluit! Thank you to all the teachers, especially our host Monique, and the community for being so welcoming to us!

Erinn & Emmaline
ᐃᕐᐃᓐᓐ  &  ᐃᒪᓕᓐ

Welcome to Nunavik!

We made it to Salluit!

We got in Friday night and were excited to meet the principal of Ikusik, Bernard, at the airport. He drove us (the short five minute drive) to our wonderful hostess Monique’s house where we spent the evening getting settled in.

Our view from the airplane window

Our weekend was full of meeting new people, hiking, napping and adjusting to the Salluit lifestyle. On Saturday we hiked up the big hill right behind Monique’s house and had a great time slipping and sliding all over the place. Emmaline even resorted to sitting on her haunches and sliding down the steep slope in order to get down the hill! On Sunday we were feeling even more ambitious so we hiked the big mountain on the other side of town. We hiked to the monumental cross and Inuksuk at the top and even built our own Inuksuk along the way. The rest of the weekend was spent exploring the town (including the town’s two stores CoOp and Northern) and checking out the cool resources we have here.

This is the Inuksuk we built! Not too shabby eh?

After a nice relaxing weekend, we were ready to get started on Monday. We went to school and found the QHO resource box and met our superhero, Katherine. Katherine is who initially contacted QHO 6 years ago, and is the reason we are in Salluit today. She gave us a low-down about the school, the teachers and what we can expect for the coming weeks. Thank goodness for her!

On Monday, we had a quick staff meeting with the teachers after school to introduce ourselves and explain what we will be doing at Ikusik. We will post a schedule every week with the lessons we are offering that week and time slots for the teachers to sign up to have us in their class! This week we are offering lessons on Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Monday night we were feeling so good after our first day that we even managed to make it to the town’s awesome fitness center. Another hike that night also gave Erinn a taste of the beautiful Northern Lights!

Tuesday we hit the ground running. We were excited but also nervous when we got to school first thing in the morning and saw that we had 5 classes to teach that day! After finishing our planning, we went from class to class and gave our lesson on Nutrition. They ran smoothly and we learned more and more from the kids as the day went on. After another full day of teaching yesterday, we are excited and optimistic about teaching here for the next 5 weeks!

Keep following our blog to hear about our adventures here in Salluit with some very awesome kids!

Erinn & Emmaline
ᐃᕐᐃᓐᓐ  &  ᐃᒪᓕᓐ

En Route!

Here we are, sitting in Puvirnituq, Québec! We are halfway to Salluit!

After a very late departure from Kingston last night and a hectic morning dealing with baggage, we are thankful to be sitting in a (tiny) airport waiting for our next flight. Our fears of having over-weight suitcases were definitely confirmed when we left Montreal this morning and ended up having to pack a THIRD 30kg suitcase.

We swear it’s not all clothes and make-up though: almost all of our luggage is full of food. The cost of food in Salluit is so high that we made a huge Costco run last week so we could bring up as much food as possible.

We are getting very excited to meet Bernard (the principal of the secondary school Ikusuik), Monique (our very gracious host-mother), all of the students and the rest of the community members. We have heard nothing but great things about everyone!

We will post again soon once we have actually reached Salluit.

Love always,

Erinn & Emmaline
ᐃᕐᐃᓐᓐ & ᐃᒪᓕᓐ

Salluit Peer Educators 2014

Erinn

Emmaline

Keeping up with the Kids: Salluit Edition

Last week was a very exciting week, inside and outside of the classroom!

Going hard at that garbage!

We are happy to report that our first week of teaching the primary classes has gone very well. We are working hard to keep our lessons interactive as we can, and so far so good! We have been trying to control the energetic students in our primary classes by creating a point system, where each class receives points for listening and participating during our lesson. We have promised the kids a prize for the winning, just to give them a little extra motivation. To sum up our week, and to add to Friday’s “Respecting our Environment” lesson, we took each class out for a garbage pick up competition, which ended up being very successful. Give these kids a competition, and they will do anything!

We thought we should be professional poster makers too

But for the most exciting news (drum roll please): Salluit’s first ever Boy to Man-A-Thon!!!

After a lot of planning, poster making, and shameless promotion we held two very successful Boy to Man-A-Thons! We held the first Boy to Man-A-Thon for the primary boys on Wednesday afterschool, and the second for the secondary boys Friday after school. Some questions you may be asking yourself right now are: What exactly is a Boy to Man- A- Thon? How were two girls able to control 25 primary boys? We asked our selves the same thing, and here is the answer. The boys were split up into two teams (Lauren took the blue team, and Kendra took the red). The teams were awarded 5 points for the winner of the challenge, 5 points for teamwork, and 5 points for cheering. Each team had a team flag and cheer, and because the points were not only for the winner, we had the boys cheering each other on and helping out their team which made the event that much better! The challenges included cracker eating contest (boys thought whistling would be easy, we proved them wrong!), elimination (aka bump), push up contest, three legged race/piggy back relay, Just Dance competition, and ended with a game of dodge ball. We made “energy bites” for the hard working “men” (shout out to Sandra all the way in Pickle Lake!), and gave each boy certificates of “becoming a man”. With a group of new certified and tired men, we had a very successful event, and have had many requests to have another! We owe a huge thanks to Hugo for helping us out, and to his students make an animation that plays photos from the events out side of the gym for every one to see!

Playing Elimination

Points time!

Gangnam styln’

Lauren demonstrating “proper” push up technique

Look at these men! 

Getting pampered!

With all the hype about the big boy event we had, the girls were getting anxious for when their girls night was. On Thursday we had a spa themed girls night, which was tons of fun! We made facemasks out of oatmeal (this is messier then you think), and did nails and bracelets. As per usual, we had many requests for some Just Dance, which always seems to make it in to everything we do. Popular songs are Gangnam Style, Party Rock, Satisfaction and What Makes You Beautiful (with Lauren’s persuasion). Can’t believe we only have one more girls night left, going to have to make it the best one yet!

Self timer fun

On the weekend, some kids accompanied us on our walk to the cross. We needed them more then they knew, because we had no idea where it was. We had lots of fun climbing the deceivingly big mountain, and when we finally made it to the top we had a beautiful view of Salluit! Once we got to the cross that overlooks the community we had a very nice photo op (discovery of self timer), and ate Kendra’s “No Bake Cookies” as a top of the mountain surprise snack. The kids showed us how to make Inukshuks, which demands for very good rock selection skills.

We only have about a week left, and we can’t believe it! 

Until next time!

Lauren (“Tom boy”) and Kendra (“Karma”)

Spring is in the air…

Hey remember us!? We are a bit late on the blogging due to some technical difficulties, but were back with lots to share!

First ride in the Qamutik

Last weekend, we had the experience of a lifetime! We were invited by one of the teachers Carol (quite the experienced explorer) to go out on the land. We went out on snowmobiles across the frozen bay surrounded by nothing but blue sky and white mountains. Lauren was taking photos of everything in sight, while Kendra was accumulating more and more layers (it was a little chilly). While keeping watch for polar bears, we headed back filled with excitement over how amazing our trip was.

View from the Quamutik

We didn’t have much time to relax before we were taken back out in the opposite direction to go mussle fishing! We rode in the Qamutik (a wooden box/sled pulled behind the snow mobile typically used for transporting tools, equipment….and people) and lets just say it takes proper technique to properly ride in it so you don’t end up with a major headache (Kendra was a natural….Lauren on the other hand…). Once we got home, we ate the mussels we had caught, and they were delicious!

Mussel fishing

 

We found a beach!

The weekend quickly came to an end as we dove right into our last week of teaching secondary classes where we focused on sexual health and substance abuse. For sexual health we taught lessons on puberty, anatomy, negotiating safe sex, STIs, contraceptives, and steps to proper condom use. Our puberty lessons began with seeing who can scream the parts of the female and male anatomy the loudest (we all had lots of fun with this). We used laminated bodies to show physical and emotional changes that occur in girls, boys and both. For our substance abuse, we taught lessons on household products, substance abuse, drugs, alcohol, safe drinking, and smoking. We tried to put emphasis on safe drinking habits, and what we should be doing before, during and after drinking as well as discussing scenarios together as a group. We were given the opportunity to take advantage of a resource was given to us before we taught our last smoking lesson. We one of the videos by Tobacco Has No Place Here, which is an Inuit-based campaign, which focuses on tobacco awareness and education in Nunavut. We talked about short term/long term effects of smoking, the price of smoking and how much we could save (buying a private jet is very popular these days), and we finished off with quitting strategies and the video.

In order to provide a comprehensive STI talk for all of the secondary kids at Ikusik, we met with the STI nurse in Salluit. She hooked us up with tons of resources, advice and information on STIs prevalent in Salluit, how to get tested, and the type of testing that is done. After noticing the prevalence of “do-it-yourself” peircings amongst young girls, we decided to touch on the importance of clean and safe piercings . Based on the giggles, questions the students were asking, and the reaction to the visuals we were pretty happy with how the morning went.

We have still been making regular appearances at Piguirivik, the elementary school, putting further emphasis on bullying and conflict resolution. We are teaching grade 3 and 4 French classes, and having lots of fun. We are also in the works of developing a resource book for Pigurivik complete with activities and a video in English, French and hopefully some sections in Inuktitut!

Hanging out at girls night!

On Thursday, Ikusik held a special event called “Inuit Games”  where we saw many of the students competing in different “Olympic type” activities- our personal favourite, the one legged high kick- we saw some kids with crazy flexibility!

Yummm

After school we held our second girls night, which was movie night themed. We were able to use a classroom, where we lounged on beanbags and watched The Perfect Man. We had plenty of popcorn for snacks, and Bernard surprised the girls with some candy!

Great timing ladies!

 

 

Friday was PD day for Ikusik and Piguirvik and what better way to celebrate than throwing a pool party? For two hours in the afternoon we played and splashed about in Salluit’s newest addition- the indoor pool! One of the students wanted to take her photos for the photo contest happening in Ikusik at the pool, so we had made a plan to arrange the students in a heart shape in the water…this is a lot easier said then done! As Lauren taught the student how to use her camera, Kendra was trying to arrange the students for the photo. There was lots of giggles and laughing, but we finally managed to get some photos that the student liked.

We just finished our long weekend, where we had some time to relax and also do most of our planning for the week. Beginning in grades 5 and 6 classes this week, we are focusing on the theme of respect: how to respect ourselves, others and our environment. With lots of interactive activities, we’ve had a great time teaching these little guys so far.

We can’t believe how quickly time flies! With two weeks left, we still have lots to do:

Stay tuned for:

• Updates from the Salluit’s first Boy to Man- A- Thon!
• Spa themed girls night!

And projects in the works:

• Community night
• Bullying video for Pigurivik directed by Ikusik students
• Plans to teach in the Rehab Centre
• Community garbage pickup competition with primary students

Hope everyone is enjoying their +22 degree weather!

Lauren and Kendra

Week Two: Our Salluit Adventure

It is the end of our second week here in snowy Salluit and we are feeling both accomplished and enthusiastic about how teaching went this week. Throughout the past eight days of teaching we have now learned which classes require A LOT of activities to keep them engaged (ahem grade seven, boys), which ones love our colourful and animated picture examples and the classes that benefit most from casual, laid-back discussions.

Communication and clean teeth- what more could we want?

This week at Ikusik School we covered mental health in grades seven and older, focusing on stress management, healthy relationships and bullying and conflict resolution. One of our favourite activities brought into the classroom this week was a communication exercise in which the students had to use verbal communication to instruct Kendra how to brush her teeth with her eyes closed! She was lucky enough to get to brush her teeth a record breaking FOUR times throughout the school day! We also enlisted a class of 15 year old to help us both create and untangle a human knot. Much to our surprise, this task was not as easy as we had originally anticipated and definitely put our communication and problem solving skills to the test. We owe a shout out to Jon Kwong for the card activity, which helped students to understand the effects of stigma based on the high or low card they recieved. This was a huge hit and loved by all of our classes.

On Tuesday morning we were given the opportunity to teach at Quannaq, the Adult Education Centre here in Salluit, about the link between nutrition and physical activity and mental health. While teaching how to read nutrition labels and discussing the four food groups we were pleasantly surprised by the student’s entusiasm and interest for our lesson On top of that, we also got to meet and swoon over a couple of their adorable babies!

Working hard to categorize our meals into the four food groups!

Made it to the top!

While life inside the classroom ceases at 3:45 each day, we have begun to get busy after hours, getting to know the students in many different ways. Situated directly behind our temporary home, we’ve begun regular hikes up the mountain. By enlisting groups of girls that are looking to hang out and stay active (a little incentive provided by the small chocolates we bring as a reward for once we’ve reached the top), we have gotten to know some great students here! They don’t seem to be at all phased by the cold weather we’ve been experiencing here (-13 degrees!!!), unlike Kendra who seems to be in a constant chilled state.

The dancing stars themselves.

However, luckily we get to warm up and show off our dance skills with the kids at Salluit’s Youth Centre when playing “Just Dance” on Wii. Even though there are only four controllers, it somehow always turns into a fifteen player game. At the Youth Centre we have been included in countless games of tag, embarassing games of pool and the occasional computer game. This place never seems to disappoint- it keeps the kids busy, gives many teenagers a part time job and gives us great opportunities to bond with the crazy but kind hearted children of Salluit.

Mother’s Day card crafting

The bow expert herself

The latest news in Salluit is the GIRLS NIGHT we organized on Thursday after school… verdict = HUGE SUCCESS. Main attractions included: crafting bows for our hair (American Apperal doesn’t have anything on us!), Mother’s Day card making and nail painting. We had over twenty-five girls join in on the festivities which lasted from after school all the way until 7:00pm! Time flies when you’re having fun right?

As for the weekend we are keeping a fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow (and by good weather we mean clear skies and wind that doesn’t knock us off our feet, literally!) as we have been invited to go on two different snowmobiling adventures by some of the teachers at Ikusik. If all goes well we will be sitting in a wooden sled behind a snowmobile this time tomorrow- Kendra will surely be bundled up TO THE MAX and Lauren will most likely be snapping pics. We’ll get back to you on that one!

Stay tuned for….

• slumber party girls night
• our upcoming suprise event for the boys of Salluit
• STI talk, guest starring a Nurse from the Nusing station
• a mystery activity for the P.D. Day next Friday!

Week 1: Mission Accomplished

A bird’s eye view of our new community!

As the school day comes to a close here in Salluit, we have officially finished our first school week at Ikusik and Piguirvik School. As a result of the warm and welcoming teachers, community members and energetic students we feel like we have been here for much longer. Our days have been filled with meeting new and friendly faces, including the head nurses at the nursing station and the workers at Sapummivik, Salluit’s boys only rehabilitation centre.

In preparation for anti-bullying day at Ikusik, we spent Wednesday helping each class to silk-screen pink t-shirts with anti-bullying messages. We also worked with them to create a “stop bullying” sign and put it up on the bulletin board in the hallway. By the end of the day each students had created their own cutout person to demonstrate their responsibility to stop bullying. This was a fantastic way for us to get to know all of the students here at Ikusik! 

And on Thursday we began our teaching! We started with nutrition and physical activity at Ikusik (grades 5 and up) and found our first few lessons to be both a little nerve racking but  also a great experience- the oldest kids especially enjoyed learning HOW to read a nutrition label. The teachers gave us some great suggestions to improve our lessons for the weeks to come- to include drawings instead of words as many of the students are learning up to three languages (Inuit, French and English) and to include even more activities to keep their attention throughout our lessons.

Outside of the classroom, we have begun to frequent the local hotspots: the corner store and the hockey arena… we’re hoping to check out the youth centre and possibly the community centre this weekend as a lot of the older students seem to enjoy working and hanging out there. It is really nice to start to see familiar faces both inside and outside of the classroom!

After having a week under our belt our minds are overflowing with exciting ideas of all the activities we want to plan and all the thing we want to accomplish in the next five weeks. Here’s what we’ve got in mind:

– Girls and boys nights for different age groups taking place at the school

– Holding a nutrition and healthy lifestyle workshop for parents in the community

– Starting a leadership club after school with hopes of getting the older students teach a lesson or two to the primary students

– Organizing an “amazing race” event for the students on their next PD Day

We are off to walk the (100 meters) back to our new home but will report back with the latest Salluit news as soon as possible.

Kendra and Lauren 🙂