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Memories to last a lifetime

Terry Fox students make what may be their last class trip

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Students keep warm while cod fishing on a lake near Kimmirut.

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(PHOTOS COURTESY OF NICK NEWBERY)

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MIRIAM HILL
Nunatsiaq News

Twelve students from Inuksuk High School’s Terry Fox Program are back home in Iqaluit after what may be the class’s last annual trip to Kimmirut.

The alternative Grade 9 class, taught by Nick Newbery, gives a second chance to students who may be struggling in the mainstream school system.

For the past 17 years, Newbery has been taking his students to the nearby community of Kimmirut as part of the course curriculum, but he is retiring this spring and there is no word yet about whether the Terry Fox Program will continue in its present form.

"The Terry Fox Program tries to put as much emphasis on Inuit culture in its program as it can," Newbery explained. "This is kind of the high point of the year. They do all the land skills indoor stuff before Christmas and the outdoor stuff after Christmas and this is the culmination. We used to go by snowmobile, but the last couple of years we’ve gone by plane."

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An Iqaluit student explores the vsitor's centre in Kimmirut.

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Kimmirut is a much more traditional community than Iqaluit, Newbery said, something that’s important for his students to experience.

"There’s more Inuktitut, there’s more carving. It’s just a general attitude that’s more Inuit," he says. "There’s a lot of outside influences in Iqaluit and part of the school’s responsibility is to show Inuit children what their culture is and to encourage them to learn it. Then they have a feeling of who they are."

On March 3, the group left the capital city and landed in the neighbouring community of about 400. The differences were immediately apparent.

"The first thing they notice is there are no taxis," Newbery said.

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A student bundled up while ice fishing.

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Later, they visited the school and the RCMP station, where one of the two officers is an Inuk.

"We asked him what it was like to be a policeman and how did he feel he made a difference," Newbery says.

As part of their pre-trip studies, the students learned about nearby Katannilik Park. They had a chance to explore the visitor’s centre, which provides more information on the park and on Inuit culture.

"We had talked and read about the history and culture of the community, but here it was all there in photographs and artifacts and films so it was a good place to go," Newbery says.

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Nick Newbery's Terry Fox Program students pose in front of the plane they chartered for their trip to Kimmirut.

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One of the highlights of the trip came when Newbery’s class teamed up with a combined Grade 8 and 9 class from the local school to go cod fishing at a lake about 15 minutes from town.

The winds were high, about 50 kilometres an hour, and there was no shelter, but the students had a great time and pulled in about 100 fish in an hour.

"The excitement of pulling a fish out of the water," Newbery says, "it’s just sheer delight. It doesn’t matter if the wind is 50 clicks. The excitement of catching a fish, whether it’s the first or the 15th, I think is always fun."

Newbery invited two elders from Iqaluit — Annie Nauyaq, who has taught his students sewing for 17 years and her husband, who helps out teaching land skills — to join the students on the trip and on the ice.

The trip was a thank you gift to them, Newbery explains.

That night in the community hall, the students hosted a feast to thank the people of Kimmirut for their support and generosity over the years. The local hunters and trappers organization donated a caribou and students raffled off $700 worth of prizes bought by the program.

"I think it’s also a tribute to the kids after 17 years that they haven’t goofed and the people are prepared to have the next batch back," Newbery says.

Before returning home March 5, the students took a tour of the health centre with nurse Shirley Barnes, who according to Newbery, really outdid herself and managed to keep the students’ attention for an hour and a half.

"They didn’t want to go for a smoke, didn’t ask where were they were going next, they were just interested. There was no noise or silliness, it was just really nice to watch," he says.

Philip Flynn has also experienced the positive results of the program. Flynn teaches the combined Grade 8 and 9 class in Kimmirut that pairs up with Newbery’s class. He brings his class to Iqaluit each year for a similar trip.

"It’s a good program just to have the students connect because sometimes kids from Kimmirut it’s their first exposure to kids from other communities," he says. "It’s a whole host of things you note when they first come in. At first they’re kind of stand-offish, then it’s a matter of hours and they’re all hanging around doing their thing."

It remains to be seen whether the Terry Fox Program will continue next year without Newbery. He routinely raises thousands of dollars to support their projects — this year’s Kimmirut trip cost $7,000 — and there may not be anyone to fill his shoes in the fall.

"I’m hoping that someone else will pick up the torch and have some kind of program because I think it’s good for both groups of students to have a chance to meet once a year just to share experiences and come together," Flynn says.

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