Academics

The Parenting Class, this year's pilot course in Personal and Social Development for secondary English students, is progressing well. With some great successes, the students completed their second semesters acting as 'parents'. Many students complained that they would not be able to 'go out' or 'have fun' with their dolls, but some did take their 'babies' out with them. It seemed unanimous, however, that students learned some of the responsibilities necessary of caring for an infant, resulting in choruses of "I am never having kids!"

 We are also awaiting some new materials: pregnancy simulation suits, and dolls representing babies who are Fetal Alcohol Affected and Drug Affected, and another doll demonstrating Shaken Baby Syndrome. Students will focus on the health, safety and discipline of babies and children for the rest of the school year.

The caribou have not roamed close to Kangiqusualujjuaq for many years.  Hunters must travel at least four hours by snowmobile to get caribou meat for the community.  As a result, many of the young people have not even seen a caribou before it is cleaned and quartered.  Our culture teacher, Alice Unatweenuk, proposed that we have hunters bring full animals to the school to teach students how to clean them. 
Last week, all of the secondary students gathered with the culture teachers and two Elders to learn about cleaning a caribou. A large amount of information was shared by everyone who attended. In addition to learning how to clean the caribou, Elders talked about the anatomy of the animal and shared interesting facts on how the caribou parts were used in the past.  The students were extremely interested and attentive.  It was a very valuable learning experience.  The Applied Culture classes are funded by Brighter Futures.

Representatives from Adult Education came to Ulluriaq School in October to inform the senior secondary students about one of the options they have after graduation: trade or vocational school.

Nunavik has a growing need for skilled trades people--construction workers, electricians, cooks, haristylists, homecare workers, computer repair people, appliance repair people, and many others. Since not all students choose to attend college or university, being trained as a tradesperson through adult education is a viable option.

The students were shown an exciting video in Inuttitut and given information about the programs that are offered through Adult Education--surely, in a few years, there will be many more Inuit tradespeople working in Nunavik through this initiative.

As a new secondary English option, the students will have the chance to take a parenting course. The course covers a range of topics such as different kinds of families, contraception, reproductive systems, and of course, pregnancy, delivery and childcare.

The highlight of the course is fifteen baby dolls (from RealityWorks) of varying ethnicities which emulate what it is like to truly have an infant to care for. The dolls require feeding, changing, rocking, and burping, and data from the dolls can be uploaded that explains in detail how they were cared for--and by whom. Of course, such sophistcated technology cannot be taken lightly, so students are able to show their reliability by keeping eggs safe and sound for a range of one to three days before being given a doll.

Updates will be made as the course progresses!

http://www.realityworks.com/catalog.html

Ulluriaq school organised their first 100th day of school celebration. On the 100th day of the school year, over 150 students from Kindergarten to Grade 7 were brought together in a fun, dynamic and engaging learning experience. Inuktitut, French and English students and teachers enjoyed months of motivating activities that helped them prepare for this day. From counting to 100 in Inuktitut for the first time to preparing a mural of 100 photos, the pedagogical creativity of our teaching staff pumped up the students for the 100th day. Students enjoyed a fun afternoon in 10 different games during 100 minutes as they developed their communication skills, learned to participate and cooperate in a group and above all demonstrate an interest and curiosity to learn. All 150 students met in the gym at the end of the day for a LOUD AND CHEERFUL countdown by 10’s to 100 in Inuktitut, English and French. Prizes were drawn and students won 100 pennies, 100 nickels, 100 dimes and 100 nickels. The Grade 6-7 French class was the lucky winner of 100 loonies. Happy 100th day Ulluriaq. See you next year!

Click here to see the gallery of photos.

IPL stands for Individual Path of Learning. Students in the IPL program are less interested in working on academics and instead prefer to work with their hands and participate in cultural activities. The project-based learning allows these students to experience success and take pride in their accomplishments. The skills they learn in IPL will prepare the students for life beyond the classroom. As part of a Stay-in-School initiative, the IPL boys are learning small-engine mechanics and woodworking. They have repaired 4-wheelers, outboard motors and snowmobiles. They have constructed tables and qamutiks that are sold to the community. The girls on the other hand are learning to sew, camp and cook. Both male and female students are also learning to make carvings from caribou antlers and soapstone. The carvings are also sold to either the Co-op or people in the community. Above all else, the IPL students love to get out on the land. They love to camp, hunt, fish and mush dogs. Their teacher, Daniel, is teaching the students all the skills necessary to survive on the land and guide tourists on the land. The IPL Guiding Project is partially funded by Brighter Futures.

Click here to see pictures from their recent fishing excursion.

We held our school Science Fair for two half days in mid-March. All the classes from Kindergarten to Secondary 5 gave presentations in French, English or Inuktitut. Regardless of the age group, something could be learned at each of the stations. The students themselves had become the expert instructors. Their displays were beautifully constructed and their demonstrations were exciting to watch. Colour Blending, Magnetism, The Solar System, Hydraulics and Flight were just a few of the topics to be explored. The entire event was electric—and we all learned a bit too. Click here to see the gallery of photos.

Since three years, students at Ulluriaq have the chance to participate in the NYHDP program (Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program). The main goal of this program is to promote attendance, good behavior and effort at the school. Students who participate are evaluated each week by their teachers.  They must meet these criteria if they want  to attend the program. If some players are having a poor behavior or are not putting enough effort during class they get temporary suspended.

In November 2008, Ulluriaq School was hosting the Scientific Eolia Tour. The workshop, animated by François Frigon and Olivier Proulx allowed almost 75 secondary students to learn about wind energy concepts and theories. This workshop also helped the students to discover and learn more about other clean and modern electricity technologies, about climate changes and also to understand the great role that Nunavik and Inuit could play by contributing to the solution of this world wide problem.  

Each students had the chance to build their own windmill driven electric generator that could reach 12 volts and an electric Nimh battery charger to feed a LED light.

The mentoring project was started so that the grade 3 students can mentor Kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2 students. The students that listen to their teacher, do their work are taken out of the classroom to do fun activities with the grade 3’s once a month. Activities like bingo, playing games or a movie with snacks.

The teachers said that it helps the students to remember to listen and work so that they will be able to join the fun. The students find that once a month is not enough so it will be twice month.