And the year draws to a close

Wow. End of the school year. It's hard to believe that the school year is done today ... in 35 minutes to be exact. At 3:35 pm, students will say their final farewells to the teachers for the summer (although I am sure we will see many of them over the weekend before they head out onto the land for some summer camping). It also marks the end of many "tour of duty" (as we have been affectionately calling it). There are some big changes on the way for Inuujaq School and Arctic Bay - but I am sure that they will all be excellent changes and life will keep on rolling here at the school.

This morning we all went out fishing at the point for sculpins and arctic cod. We mostly caught sculpins (or ugly fish) as they are known as here (and boy are they ugly!).






After spending all morning outside on the ice and then walking back to the community barely any of us teachers are able to keep our eyes open - are we ever tired. The kids? Naww .. hyper as ever (how I wish I had that energy again).

So that brings us to here, 3:13 pm ... with only 22 minutes left before the end of the school year. The buzz around the school - everyone is freaking out over the end of the year - kids are happy to be getting out soon to be able to go off and play and to stay up a late as they want all summer long without having to worry about getting up in the morning to come to school. The southern staff is either busy getting summer bags ready for their vacation down south or are packing like mad as they are preparing for new adventures.

What ever the end of the year may bring, in the end, I'll always be able to look back upon it and smile.