92 Niditchie Road
General Delivery
Tsiigehtchic, NT X0E 0T0
Mon – Fri 8:30 a.m. to 5:00pm
Phone: (867) 953-3211
Fax: (867) 953-3705
Chief Paul Niditchie (1881-1955) is our school’s namesake.
Paul Niditchie was born in 1881 around Arctic Village in Alaska. Paul spent all of his time on the land with his family living at such places as Big Rock and Sitidgi Lake in the Mackenzie Delta, up the Arctic Red River and towards Snake Lake in the mountains, and on the Kugaluk River. Paul was well known from Fort Good Hope to the coast. In 1921, as the first chief for the community of Tsiigehtchic (formally Arctic Red River). Paul was one of the signatories to Treaty 11. Paul was chief of Tsiigehtchic from 1921-1936. Gwichya Gwich’in Elders remembered that Paul was a great storyteller and enjoyed joking around. He had a good memory and knew how to play the drum. Chief Paul passed away in 1955.
At Chief Paul Niditchie School, we are a 3Cs school: Caring, Cultural, Capable.
We are Caring – we respond to students’ needs using a team-based approach.
We are Cultural – we work in partnership with the community and value language and culture.
We are Capable – we teach to the standards and hold students accountable for their learning.
Please send your children to school with all warm clothing as we will be going outside more that the weather is warm
Hi there my handsome grandson Hudson John. Miss n love ya 
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2022-2023 News and Updates
Students in Inuvik, N.W.T., build and fly their own drones
Students in Inuvik are getting a higher education this week.
Drone training has been happening for Grade 7 and 8 students at East Three Secondary School.
Students are being taught regulations, safety rules and the different things drones can be used for.
Once they learned the rules and what is legally allowed, they were able to fly mini-drones in their school.
The groups were also able to assemble their own drones and fly them inside the classroom.
Maverick Aleekuk-Lennie is a Grade 7 student who is really interested in technology and was eager to pilot a drone on his own.
"We're seeing through the eyes of a non-living thing that we control and it goes a lot faster than us," he said.
The one-day program is being hosted by Indigenous Aerospace, a group that promotes and educates drone use in remote communities across Canada.
Jacob Taylor is the CEO of Indigenous Aerospace and was in Inuvik to help facilitate the event.
Taylor said bringing drones into the schools and giving students first-hand knowledge is the first step in starting careers in that field.
"The program is really great at inspiring young people to engage in science, technology, engineering and math careers as well as curriculums so it's a really positive retention tool," said Taylor.
The introduction to drone piloting is something that really interested Grade 8 student Thomas Wilbert Thrasher. He plans on starting a company that produces video games, and this technology is something he would like to use in the future.
"I just really want to start my own company. I really want to learn how to code video games, I have been learning about that for a while," said Thrasher.
Using a drone to scan and map areas is something of interest to Thrasher so he can integrate that into his video games.
Thrasher hopes to see more programs like this in the school soon.
"This is really interesting and they should do it more," he said.
Educational Exchange Newsletter
Nicolas Kopot
Principal, Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School (Ulukhaktok, NT) Graduate of the Bachelor of Education program (2010); Master of Education for Change program (2015) “Growing up in Thunder Bay, I had a predominantly westernized education that privileged linearity and results. As I have gained experience as a teacher and an administrator, I have been consciously decolonizing my mind and my practice. I am fortunate to be in a territory that is experiencing a curriculum renewal—shifting from outcome-based to a competency and skills-based inquiry model. I am currently in my 8th year in the Beaufort Delta of the Northwest Territories. I am privileged to work and play in a small Inuvialuit hamlet called Ulukhaktok. Ulu, as it is commonly known, is on Canada’s second largest island, Victoria Island. I am a teaching principal at a school of 120 mostly Inuvialuit students. As teaching positions in the Thunder Bay region were quite sparse following my BEd, I opted to continue in the honors year of my BA (French) at Lakehead. Throughout that year, I also worked as a tutor at Scholars Education, and taught many Kindergarten-Grade 8 French Immersion classrooms across Thunder Bay as a substitute. In 2011, I accepted a full-time teaching position in Nunavut. What a wonderful, eye-opening experience that was! I instantly fell in love with the North, the Inuit culture, and the reciprocal way of life. Many have heard the expression “it takes a village…”—I experienced this, first hand.
After some moves around the country, I returned to Thunder Bay in 2014. That summer, I had the fortune of sitting with a senior member of Lakehead’s Faculty of Education. As we discussed our unique travels and shared experiences in the North of Canada, he inspired me to reflect deeply on my educational journey. With his encouragement, I chose to apply to the inaugural year of the Education for Change, Masters of Education program at Lakehead. This decision would forever change me. After working four semesters consecutively, I graduated in the summer of 2015 with my MEd, specializing in Indigenous Education. I can thank my Indigenous Education professor (among others) from my BEd year for inspiring me to take a path towards genuine community building. I am inspired to lead a school through inclusion, collaboration, and co-regulation. Much of my time is devoted to promoting a healthy environment for my students to define success through their voice and choice. This enables our students to actively co-create meaningful learning experiences. My passion remains in place-based education where my community’s values are not only reflected in the pedagogical practices of my teachers: they are the foundation for all programming. My advice for new teachers is to find a school system that fits your values. Remember: half of the equation is what you do; the ..
Beaufort Delta District Education Council unveils five-year vision
Beaufort Delta District Education Council (BDDEC) is aggressively working to improve graduation rates.
Superintendent Devin Roberts said the district has gone so far as to expand its team of mobile teachers.
“This year new trades teachers were hired to travel the district and provide more high school courses to smaller schools outside of Inuvik,” he said. “The plan is to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of students who enter grade ten but do not graduate. This has become a focus of the BDDEC vision which we hope to report on over the next five to ten years.”
As of the 2020/2021 year, the six-year graduation rate for the Northwest Territories is 60 per cent. Split between regions, the rate is 74 per cent in Yellowknife, 55 per cent in regional centres like Inuvik and 45 per cent in smaller communities. Graduation rates for Indigenous students is 49 per cent across the territory, compared to 81 per cent for non-Indigenous students. Roberts said BDDEC wants to turn those lower numbers around.
It is part of BDDEC’s overall 2022 to 2027 vision, developed by a council with representatives from all eight Beaufort Delta communities. The vision will renew the district’s focus on the Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum, which teachers are expected to bring into lessons as much as possible. To help facilitate this, teachers are encouraged to bring in knowledge keepers and Elders to help students learn traditional skills, stories and languages alongside learning science, technology, engineering and math.
A renewed focus on trades education as well as mental wellness is also part of the new vision. Roberts said the vision follows a concept of three “I’s” — Indigenized Education, Inquiry and Inclusive Schooling.
“Decolonizing the education system as much as possible within our local locus of control is a main priority for BDDEC,” he said. “The efforts to advance truth and reconciliation can be seen with the Elders in the School programs and BDDEC’s new vision which includes a focus on voice and choice for students. The voices of the youth in the region must be valued, fostered and supported throughout their education. BDDEC has asked all schools to develop a student council. These student councils will work together to provide youth more of a forum to bring forward ideas and concerns about their education system in real time.
“Also in the day to day classes BDDEC teachers are providing students more opportunities for voice and choice using inquiry as the main method of teaching. Students become active in their learning. They are encouraged to practice and become more comfortable with oracy skills. This is supported through partner talks and small group work eventually building students up to become confident in public ..Beaufort Delta District Education Council unveils five-year vision
Beaufort Delta District Education Council (BDDEC) is aggressively working to improve graduation rates.
Superintendent Devin Roberts said the district has gone so far as to expand its team of mobile teachers.
“This year new trades teachers were hired to travel the district and provide more high school courses to smaller schools outside of Inuvik,” he said. “The plan is to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of students who enter grade ten but do not graduate. This has become a focus of the BDDEC vision which we hope to report on over the next five to ten years.”
As of the 2020/2021 year, the six-year graduation rate for the Northwest Territories is 60 per cent. Split between regions, the rate is 74 per cent in Yellowknife, 55 per cent in regional centres like Inuvik and 45 per cent in smaller communities. Graduation rates for Indigenous students is 49 per cent across the territory, compared to 81 per cent for non-Indigenous students. Roberts said BDDEC wants to turn those lower numbers around.
It is part of BDDEC’s overall 2022 to 2027 vision, developed by a council with representatives from all eight Beaufort Delta communities. The vision will renew the district’s focus on the Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum, which teachers are expected to bring into lessons as much as possible. To help facilitate this, teachers are encouraged to bring in knowledge keepers and Elders to help students learn traditional skills, stories and languages alongside learning science, technology, engineering and math.
A renewed focus on trades education as well as mental wellness is also part of the new vision. Roberts said the vision follows a concept of three “I’s” — Indigenized Education, Inquiry and Inclusive Schooling.
“Decolonizing the education system as much as possible within our local locus of control is a main priority for BDDEC,” he said. “The efforts to advance truth and reconciliation can be seen with the Elders in the School programs and BDDEC’s new vision which includes a focus on voice and choice for students. The voices of the youth in the region must be valued, fostered and supported throughout their education. BDDEC has asked all schools to develop a student council. These student councils will work together to provide youth more of a forum to bring forward ideas and concerns about their education system in real time.
“Also in the day to day classes BDDEC teachers are providing students more opportunities for voice and choice using inquiry as the main method of teaching. Students become active in their learning. They are encouraged to practice and become more comfortable with oracy skills. This is supported through partner talks and small group work eventually building students up to become confident in public ..
Trapping, science, baking and more at BDDEC wisdom fest
Students from across the Beaufort Delta showed off their passion for knowledge at Beaufort Delta District Education Council’s Wisdom Fest. The annual fair allows students to explore projects in science, passion or heritage and provides cash prizes for the best work in several age groups. Students learned about concepts are varied as the political spectrum to hunting and trapping techniques and beyond.
This year’s medallists are:
Science
Grades 4 to 6
East Three Elementary School – Rita Garaba – first
East Three Elementary School – Atticus Willkomm – second
Moose Kerr School – Yehya Ayache – third
Grades 7 to 9
Moose Kerr School – Maryam Ayache – first
Mangilaluk School – Owen Whynot – second
Grades 10 to 12
East Three Secondary School William – Rogers and Rylan Wainman – first
Harmonie MacLeod-Lennie and Chloe Frost were second place in the passion project category. Eric Bowling/NNSL photo
Heritage
Grades 4 to 6
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Payton Inglangasuk and Cruz Blake Storr – first
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Sydney Van Loon – second
East Three Elementary School – Claire Letendre, Bristol Pidborochynski, and Avery Cardinal-Blake – third
Grades 7 to 9
East Three secondary School – Bea Dhungel – first
Chief Julius School – Diezel Blake, Aubrey Francis Norman, Alexis Koe, Jathena Vaneltsi, Krystal Firth, Adrianna Koe, Kiedyn Nerysoo, and Leah Vittrekwa – second
Chief Julius School – Aliayah Alexie and CJS Grade 8 Class – third
Grades 10 to 12
Moose Kerr School – Husineh Ayache and Sarah Meyook – first
East Three Secondary School – Alexandria Ruben – second
East Three Secondary School – Daniel Hartley – third
Passion
Grades 4 to 6
East Three Elementary School – Valerie Salloman – first
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Harmonie MacLeod-Lennie and Chloe Frost – second
Mangilaluk School – Trent Wolki – third
Grades 7 to 12
Moose Kerr School – Sydney McLeod – ..
How a wrestling program took off in Ulukhaktok
At this year’s Arctic Winter Games, the NWT had two wrestlers on its team. Both of them came from Ulukhaktok.
Ben Inuktalik and Hunter Kitekudlak, both 13, were coached by fellow Ulukhaktok resident and Arctic Winter Games alumnus Jacob Klengenberg – and by school counsellor Monique Smith.
Smith was a university wrestler and had a good friend, Leah Ferguson, compete for Canada at the London 2012 Olympics.
Ferguson has since worked to develop Indigenous coaches and wrestlers in northern Manitoba. When Smith was contracted to work in Ulukhaktok, Gamètì and Wekweètì, she borrowed from Ferguson’s playbook and persuaded territorial sports agency Sport North to help find money for wrestling mats in each of the three communities.
“I’m up there anyway, why not volunteer wrestling?” Smith said she thought at the time.
“Therapeutically, when you create connections with kids – even outside the office – you have such a cool opportunity to meet the kids on their level.
“We do a lot of the therapeutic skills: we do mindfulness grounding, we do deep breathing. The things I’m trying to teach in the office, I can teach them on the wrestling mat.”
Klengenberg competed at the 2016 and 2018 Arctic Winter Games in snowshoe biathlon, a sport he took up following the efforts of an iconic NWT coach: the late Pat Bobinski.
Bobinski, who passed away in 2017, famously and tirelessly established biathlon as a sport in a wide range of northern communities, earning renown for the dedication with which he supported both his sport and young athletes.
Klengenberg said he sees some of that in Smith’s approach to wrestling.
“As somebody who has experienced somebody coming into the community and pretty-well dropping their impact, so to say, it’s sparking interest in the kids and the kids’ lives,” he said.
“They’re getting to know themselves as people, and I really think that’s awesome.
“Monique Smith has been amazing for not only the mental health side of things for our community, but also physical health and stuff like that.”
Monique Smith with Jacob Klengenberg
Monique Smith with Jacob Klengenberg. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
At the Arctic Winter Games in Fort McMurray, Inuktalik and Kitekudlak were cheered on and offered support by other teams at their first large wrestling event of any kind.
Currie, Crook and Kilo: NWT names its first music award winners
Published: September 10, 2022 at 10:42pmMEGAN MISKIMAN AND OLLIE WILLIAMSLAST MODIFIED: SEPTEMBER 11, 2022 AT 5:39PM
Miranda Currie, Crook the Kid and Kilo November were among the winners as Music NWT staged its inaugural awards ceremony in Yellowknife on Saturday.
Miranda Currie, right, collects the NWT's Indigenous artist of the year award from ceremony host Tanya Snow. Megan Miskiman/Cabin RadioMeanwhile, the Yellowknives Dene Drummers, Ted Wesley and Norm Glowach entered a newly formed NWT music hall of fame during a combined awards and induction ceremony at the Explorer Hotel.
Drummer Cody Drygeese said the award demonstrated the health of Dene drumming.
“I’m very happy to say that right now we have many people in our First Nation who are still participating in this ancient cultural practice,” he said.
Cody Drygeese, who appeared on behalf of the Yellowknives Dene Drummers for their induction into the NWT’s music hall of fame. Megan Miskiman/Cabin RadioGuitarist Ted Wesley passed away last December. Sister-in-law Heather Pritchard, appearing on his behalf, said Ted was “a wonderful musician with a very large range” who obsessively studied songs he heard.
“He didn’t do music for money or fame. He mostly played for free,” she said. “And he missed his chance for fame when he went to the Juno Awards, because they really wanted to sign up this wonderful young talent, but he would have to move to Toronto. And who the hell wants to leave the North to move to Toronto?”
Mayor of Yellowknife Rebecca Alty, introducing Norm Glowach as the night’s final inductee, noted he had spent decades focusing his immense skillset, from musical ability to audio engineering, on the Northwest Territories.
“I’m lucky,” said Glowach. “I get to record people. I get to work with my bandmates, who I have been playing with in Priscilla’s Revenge for 15 years. This is a pretty good life, I’d recommend it to anybody.”
Currie, named the NWT’s Indigenous artist of the year on Saturday, recently released an album designed to help children learn their traditional language.
“Every time I hear Miranda play, her music plays in my mind for the next six hours,” said the ceremony’s host, Inuk author and throat-singer Tanya Snow. Al Bee, right, receives the 2022 NWT Music Award for best new album. Megan Miskiman/Cabin Radio Crook the Kid at the 2022 NWT Music Awards. Megan Miskiman/Cabin ..
Fan favourite Abe Drennan could not be more grateful by Eric Bowling October 5, 2022
Abe Drennan can’t say enough thanks to his fans.
He was named the first-ever NWT Music Awards Fan Choice at the first-ever gala Sept. 10 — edging out other big-name artists like Leela and Jay Gilday’s project Sechile – Sedare and the band Welders Daughter — for his music video Way Up North, which he filmed with local video-pro David Stewart. The video was also nominated for Music Video Excellence.
“It was amazing. It was an exhilarating feeling,” he said. “Right before the nominees are announced, you get this whole build-up and all of a sudden my name came up. I was just so happy.
“The Fan Choice award is a great award to win. All the awards are great, but I think the Fan Choice is great because you’re chosen by the people who listen to and like your music. And that matters most, because without our fans as artists we’re just folks making music in our basements. The fans are the ones who appreciate and value what we do — how could I not be more grateful.”
With 20 years of work put into his music, Drennan said being named the fan favourite felt like an acknowledgement of the time he’s put into his craft. But more-so he said it was the result of the many friends he’s made through music along the way.
“For years and years I have been sharing my music with people,” he said. “From my hometown in Bancroft, Ont. which I know is always supporting my music and what I’m doing, and folks from here and family and friends. It’s just a culmination of time. That adds up and those relationships build.
“I’m all about connecting to people and building meaningful relationships. That’s who I am. And you know, I know my people have my back, but this was just a further confirmation of that. It just felt so good.”
His own recognition aside, Drennan said it was an important milestone for the NWT to host an Music Awards Gala and the effort to bring it about has been underway for a long time.
Put on by Music NWT and initially pushed by Trevor Sinclair, the awards ceremony was the first of its kind.
“It’s was an important step in establishing our musical community in the NWT,” he said. “It was good for artist recognition, good for community building and great connecting with everybody.
“Many of the award winners and such were people I haven’t had the chance to meet face to face, but I have been collaborating with people around the NWT virtually for over a year now and finally we came together. It so special that way.”
Now that he’s earned his mantelpiece, Drennan is back to his life’s work, with plans to put together a new single and album over the winter.
He said he’s working on an ..
Ulukhaktok mural reflects life in a new land for Muslim teen from Ontario
For 17-year-old Ruqaiyah Noor-e-Zahra Naqvi, living in the small N.W.T. hamlet of Ulukhaktok means muskox hunts, snowfalls like she's never seen before, drum dances and ravens.
Naqvi, a Muslim student at Helen Kalvak School who recently moved to the community of about 400 people, brought all those concepts together with the help of fellow student Alison Klengenberg-Kuneluk for a mural that now hangs on a wall at the school.
"It's definitely [an] interesting thing for me to try, because I never worked on a project that big," said Naqvi, who is in Grade 12.
"I think definitely because of the friends I've met here, I was able to try new things and kind of open myself up a bit."
Naqvi and her family moved to Ulukhaktok in 2020 when her mother took a job as a junior high teacher at the school. It was an unplanned move for the family, who had been living in Burlington, Ont.
"When we were going to move to Ulukhaktok … I almost felt like I get to see another view, another side of my brothers or sisters in humanity," said Ambreen Zahra Bokhari, Naqvi's mother. "We are all part of the same light."
Ruqaiya Noor-e-Zahra Naqvi, left, with her mom Ambreen Zahra Bohari and sister Sakina-Mariam Sufia Naqvi. The family moved to Ulukhaktok in 2020. (Submitted by Ambreen Zahra Bohari)Though out of her comfort zone at first, Naqvi soon settled in. She began to meet people, make friends, and started her own creative arts club. She joined a muskox hunt with other students, took part in a drum dance and learned from elders about what they experienced at residential schools.
"It broke my heart," she said of hearing those residential school experiences. "But I think the point of them sharing it was to remind people of how far they've come in what has happened in the past, so you don't forget."
She wove those emotional and special experiences all together with paint. She's thankful, she said, for the history, culture and knowledge people have shared with her.
"If you told me two or three years ago that I would go hunting for muskox for nine hours in deep snow … I would be like, 'Are you crazy? I would never do something like that!'" she said.
"That's an experience you don't forget."
The mural is one of 33 ..
GNWT job satisfaction increasingly resembles shrug emoji
The latest GNWT satisfaction survey suggests life at the territorial government is, for an increasing number of staff, as appetizing as a gentle slap in the face with a wet fish.
A fish doing its "another day at the territorial government" face. Olga Labusova/DreamstimeWhile a majority of employees are broadly happy, results published on Tuesday show morale has dipped since a 2016 survey and pride in the NWT government is slipping.
Sixty-five percent of people said they are proud to work at the GNWT, a drop of six percent since 2016. Sixty-six percent of people said they’d recommend the GNWT as a great place to work, also a six-percent decline.
Seventy-four percent of staff responding to the survey said they agreed with the phrase: “Overall, I am satisfied in my work as a GNWT employee.” That figure had dropped just under one percent since the last survey and has essentially remained unchanged for a decade or more.
Overall, the survey reported a 3.4-percent drop in GNWT morale since 2016. High turnover rates and an inability (or disinclination) to take annual leave were highlighted issues. The report containing the results stated that the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated travel rules were probably factors.
A GNWT press release about the results on Tuesday avoided mentioning any of them, though there were some bright spots among a general sense of mild decay.
“These results provide the GNWT with the information needed to improve employee engagement and satisfaction across the public service,” said finance minister Caroline Wawzonek, whose department oversees human resources.
The good news? NWT government staff think some aspects of diversity at work are going well.
Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed that “the GNWT promotes cross-cultural awareness opportunities for employees,” a whopping nine-percent increase on 2016’s figure and the largest improvement across any aspect of the survey. The report’s authors concluded GNWT initiatives in this area are having “tangible impacts.”
On top of that, 90 percent of respondents said they have good relations with their coworkers. More than 80 percent find at least some of their work “challenging and interesting.”
Yet despite this, only 52 percent of people responding agreed with the statement: “I would describe our workplace as being psychologically healthy.” (This was a new question for 2021 and doesn’t have a previous result for the purposes of comparison.)
Only 57 percent said they felt valued as a GNWT ..
Students' caribou hunt in Aklavik provides meat for entire school
6 students teamed up with 6 skilled hunters for an on-the-land experience
CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2022 10:27 AM PST | Last Updated: November 22, 2022 A group of students from Aklavik, N.W.T., went on a caribou hunt with some experienced hunters earlier this month. They came back with six animals — enough for every student at the local school to bring some meat home. (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)It was an all-new experience for Jordan Archie.
"My brothers and them would go, but for me, this was my first time ever going caribou hunting," said Archie, a student at Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, N.W.T.
Archie was part of a group of students from the school that teamed up with some local hunters this month to harvest some caribou. It was organized as a one-on-one learning experience on the land, with six students and six experienced hunters.
"I think of it as a great opportunity and I was thankful of going," Archie said.
Megan Lennie, a regional youth coordinator with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), helped organize the event along with another teacher at the school. It was organized through Project Jewel, an on-the-land wellness initiative run by the IRC.
Lennie said the original idea for the hunt came from a student.
"They wanted a community harvest but they had no knowledge on how to get up there, and what the terrain was going to be like," Lennie said.
"So it was a perfect way to encourage knowledge sharing, and to provide meat to the entire school."
The six students — all boys, aged 16 to 18 — were teamed with six older hunters. (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)She said it all came together quickly.
"The idea came on Wednesday and we ran it … we decided to run it the next Monday. So then the boys went out on Monday to harvest," she said.
It was a cold day — around –27 C with the wind chill, Lennie said. They packed up some sandwiches and snacks for the six students and off they went.
The Porcupine caribou herd was not far from the community, so it was possible to do the excursion as a day-trip.
Some of the students had been hunting before, but Lennie said it was still a good learning experience for them. 'It was a perfect way to encourage knowledge sharing, and to provide meat to the entire school,' said organizer Megan Lennie, regional youth coordinator with the ..
‘We need to do this as a community’: Abe Drennan celebrates pandemic resilience with ‘Unknown Road’ POSTED BY: IAN DOWN NOVEMBER 24, 2022
Inuvik singer-songwriter Abe Drennan remembers the fear that gripped him in the first weeks of the pandemic.
“I went out to buy groceries at Stanton for the first time since we shut down,” he remembers. “And I remember feeling a real fear that I have never felt before — I’ve felt fear before, but not like this. And it was going to the grocery store.”
“Whenever I feel something like that, something that powerful, I have to work it through it, through song and through writing.”
Almost two-and-a-half years later, that writing process turned out “Unknown Road,” a modern folk tune that reflects on the resilience of the Inuvik community in the face of pandemic adversity.
Gradually, the community was able to come back together as restrictions were lifted and life returned to normal. “Trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel was really hard sometimes, right?” says Drennan. “But when the mask mandates were lifted, and we could actually gather, I was like, ‘No, we need to do this as a community, we need to come together.'”
The accompanying video is also a tribute to Drennan’s home community: It opens with a shot of him walking across the ice road that connects Inuvik and Aklavik, and features shots of the inside of East Three Secondary School and a crowd of local students.
At the climax of the video, “When the community joined me on the walk down the road, it was the opportunity to symbolize that, here we are, having come out of this horrific experience,” says Drennan. “And here we are back together again. And it was a reason to celebrate.”
Drennan, who is also a teacher, won this year’s Fan’s Choice award at the NWT Music Awards. “Unknown Road” is part of a planned new EP that should be released sometime next spring. A new Christmas song, “Light of the Season,” will also be released on Dec. 17.
“Unknown Road” and its accompanying music video are now available to stream on YouTube. The single is also available to stream on Apple and Spotify.
Grade 9 teacher in Inuvik is Sport North's Coach of the Year
Stephanie Parkes didn't previously play basketball.
But recently, she was named coach of the year by Sport North, in honour of her efforts coaching the boys' basketball team at a school in Inuvik, N.W.T.
"I was shocked," she said. "Honoured. It's nice to have the recognition."
Sport North aims to develop and promote amateur sport in the Northwest Territories. It's responsible for providing programs and services for organized sport throughout the territory.
Parkes teaches Grade 9 math and is the boys' basketball coach at East Three Secondary School.
She said her journey into coaching began around 2008 when a friend needed her help chaperoning. It was a chance for her to hang out with the kids outside of the classroom setting — and she loved the experience..
"I see the kids a lot in the building. But it was really nice to get out of the school, make connections with the kids. Some of the students that maybe struggle academically — you really get to see a different side of them," Parkes said.
"You get to see them shine. I just fell in love with it."
Parkes seen from behind, speaking with the boys basketball team she coaches in Inuvik. She says it's more than just coaching — Parkes offers guidance, leadership and a safe place for the kids. (Submitted by Stephanie Parkes)For the last six or seven years, she's stuck with the same group of kids, who are now in Grade 12.
"It's been a journey for sure," she said. "A lot goes into coaching."
That includes five days a week in the gym, a lot of effort fundraising and travelling with the kids to Yellowknife.
"There's a lot to juggle," Parkes said. "It's time away from your own family. And my family has always been super supportive of me working outside of the house and chaperoning."
The time commitment, she said, pays off.
"We've had a pretty consistent team through the years. The kids are super dedicated," Parkes said.
"When you hear from teenagers that they appreciate you, and the things that you've done for their life, it kind of ..
Inuvik Drum Youth of the Week: Noah Cormier
Our Youth of the Week is Noah Cormier, seen here with RKV Bladesmith Rory Voudrach. Noah has been participating in an on-the-land school program with his father, learning traditional survival methods. After watching others working with an ulu, Noah decided he wanted one himself and has been operating a lemonade stand and collecting bottles for the past several months to save up. He finally got his blade at the Christmas Craft Fair Nov. 25 to 27. Photo courtesy of Kimberlly Walters
Beaufort Delta Schools kill bullying with kindness
When it comes to standing up to bullying, Beaufort Delta District Education Council takes an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Superintendent Devin Roberts listed 11 different programs active across the district, both in nurturing safe environments and addressing bullying when it happens. Among the programs he cited were the school district’s Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and the “Walk Away, Ignore, Talk it Out and Seek Help” (WITS) programs.
“GSAs provide a safe, supportive environment for students of diverse genders and sexualities to meet, discuss sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and form a community. GSAs also welcome straight, cisgender ally youth,” he said. “The WITS Programs bring together schools, families and communities to create responsive environments that help elementary school children deal with conflict and peer victimization, such as discrimination and bullying.
“(A third program,) LEADS challenges students to become leaders in their community. It encourages understanding of different perspectives by using five problem-solving strategies: Look and Listen, Explore Points of View, Act, Did it Work? and Seek Help.”
Getting feedback from student councils and assemblies, Roberts said all BDDEC schools have a Safe and Caring School Committee, designed to ensure schools have healthy programming and were positive spaces for everyone inside them. BDDEC also commits to safe school plans that report, document and respond to incidents of bullying. Individual schools identify specific issues to target strategies, though Roberts noted preventing bullying is a community-wide effort.
Consequentially, the school district uses its programming to target the entire learning community to promote healthy relationships, as well as teach students proactive incident reporting skills and safe intervention tactics, as well as conflict resolution.
As part of the effort to promote a safe and healthy culture, two schools are going the extra distance in the lead-up to Pink Shirt Day, which is Feb. 22. Moose Kerr School in Aklavik will have an Acts of Kindness and wisdom week staying Feb. 27 to promote kindness among students. Meanwhile, an Random Act of Kindness month is already underway at East Three Secondary school.
Programming is administered with a holistic approach in mind. Roberts noted three healthy relationship programs were directly oriented towards stopping bullying before it starts, including the Fourth R Program, which uses a thematic approach to reduce aggressive behaviours in youth and substance abuse. A second program, the WiseGuyz program, targets teenagers and helps guide them through the chaotic world of dating.
“Importantly, many of these adolescent risk behaviours overlap because they occur in the context of relationships,” ..Students in Inuvik, N.W.T., build and fly their own drones
Students in Inuvik are getting a higher education this week.
Drone training has been happening for Grade 7 and 8 students at East Three Secondary School.
Students are being taught regulations, safety rules and the different things drones can be used for.
Once they learned the rules and what is legally allowed, they were able to fly mini-drones in their school.
The groups were also able to assemble their own drones and fly them inside the classroom.
Maverick Aleekuk-Lennie is a Grade 7 student who is really interested in technology and was eager to pilot a drone on his own.
"We're seeing through the eyes of a non-living thing that we control and it goes a lot faster than us," he said.
The one-day program is being hosted by Indigenous Aerospace, a group that promotes and educates drone use in remote communities across Canada.
Jacob Taylor is the CEO of Indigenous Aerospace and was in Inuvik to help facilitate the event.
Taylor said bringing drones into the schools and giving students first-hand knowledge is the first step in starting careers in that field.
"The program is really great at inspiring young people to engage in science, technology, engineering and math careers as well as curriculums so it's a really positive retention tool," said Taylor.
The introduction to drone piloting is something that really interested Grade 8 student Thomas Wilbert Thrasher. He plans on starting a company that produces video games, and this technology is something he would like to use in the future.
"I just really want to start my own company. I really want to learn how to code video games, I have been learning about that for a while," said Thrasher.
Using a drone to scan and map areas is something of interest to Thrasher so he can integrate that into his video games.
Thrasher hopes to see more programs like this in the school soon.
"This is really interesting and they should do it more," he said.
Educational Exchange Newsletter
Nicolas Kopot
Principal, Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School (Ulukhaktok, NT) Graduate of the Bachelor of Education program (2010); Master of Education for Change program (2015) “Growing up in Thunder Bay, I had a predominantly westernized education that privileged linearity and results. As I have gained experience as a teacher and an administrator, I have been consciously decolonizing my mind and my practice. I am fortunate to be in a territory that is experiencing a curriculum renewal—shifting from outcome-based to a competency and skills-based inquiry model. I am currently in my 8th year in the Beaufort Delta of the Northwest Territories. I am privileged to work and play in a small Inuvialuit hamlet called Ulukhaktok. Ulu, as it is commonly known, is on Canada’s second largest island, Victoria Island. I am a teaching principal at a school of 120 mostly Inuvialuit students. As teaching positions in the Thunder Bay region were quite sparse following my BEd, I opted to continue in the honors year of my BA (French) at Lakehead. Throughout that year, I also worked as a tutor at Scholars Education, and taught many Kindergarten-Grade 8 French Immersion classrooms across Thunder Bay as a substitute. In 2011, I accepted a full-time teaching position in Nunavut. What a wonderful, eye-opening experience that was! I instantly fell in love with the North, the Inuit culture, and the reciprocal way of life. Many have heard the expression “it takes a village…”—I experienced this, first hand.
After some moves around the country, I returned to Thunder Bay in 2014. That summer, I had the fortune of sitting with a senior member of Lakehead’s Faculty of Education. As we discussed our unique travels and shared experiences in the North of Canada, he inspired me to reflect deeply on my educational journey. With his encouragement, I chose to apply to the inaugural year of the Education for Change, Masters of Education program at Lakehead. This decision would forever change me. After working four semesters consecutively, I graduated in the summer of 2015 with my MEd, specializing in Indigenous Education. I can thank my Indigenous Education professor (among others) from my BEd year for inspiring me to take a path towards genuine community building. I am inspired to lead a school through inclusion, collaboration, and co-regulation. Much of my time is devoted to promoting a healthy environment for my students to define success through their voice and choice. This enables our students to actively co-create meaningful learning experiences. My passion remains in place-based education where my community’s values are not only reflected in the pedagogical practices of my teachers: they are the foundation for all programming. My advice for new teachers is to find a school system that fits your values. Remember: half of the equation is what you do; the ..
Beaufort Delta District Education Council unveils five-year vision
Beaufort Delta District Education Council (BDDEC) is aggressively working to improve graduation rates.
Superintendent Devin Roberts said the district has gone so far as to expand its team of mobile teachers.
“This year new trades teachers were hired to travel the district and provide more high school courses to smaller schools outside of Inuvik,” he said. “The plan is to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of students who enter grade ten but do not graduate. This has become a focus of the BDDEC vision which we hope to report on over the next five to ten years.”
As of the 2020/2021 year, the six-year graduation rate for the Northwest Territories is 60 per cent. Split between regions, the rate is 74 per cent in Yellowknife, 55 per cent in regional centres like Inuvik and 45 per cent in smaller communities. Graduation rates for Indigenous students is 49 per cent across the territory, compared to 81 per cent for non-Indigenous students. Roberts said BDDEC wants to turn those lower numbers around.
It is part of BDDEC’s overall 2022 to 2027 vision, developed by a council with representatives from all eight Beaufort Delta communities. The vision will renew the district’s focus on the Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum, which teachers are expected to bring into lessons as much as possible. To help facilitate this, teachers are encouraged to bring in knowledge keepers and Elders to help students learn traditional skills, stories and languages alongside learning science, technology, engineering and math.
A renewed focus on trades education as well as mental wellness is also part of the new vision. Roberts said the vision follows a concept of three “I’s” — Indigenized Education, Inquiry and Inclusive Schooling.
“Decolonizing the education system as much as possible within our local locus of control is a main priority for BDDEC,” he said. “The efforts to advance truth and reconciliation can be seen with the Elders in the School programs and BDDEC’s new vision which includes a focus on voice and choice for students. The voices of the youth in the region must be valued, fostered and supported throughout their education. BDDEC has asked all schools to develop a student council. These student councils will work together to provide youth more of a forum to bring forward ideas and concerns about their education system in real time.
“Also in the day to day classes BDDEC teachers are providing students more opportunities for voice and choice using inquiry as the main method of teaching. Students become active in their learning. They are encouraged to practice and become more comfortable with oracy skills. This is supported through partner talks and small group work eventually building students up to become confident in public ..Beaufort Delta District Education Council unveils five-year vision
Beaufort Delta District Education Council (BDDEC) is aggressively working to improve graduation rates.
Superintendent Devin Roberts said the district has gone so far as to expand its team of mobile teachers.
“This year new trades teachers were hired to travel the district and provide more high school courses to smaller schools outside of Inuvik,” he said. “The plan is to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of students who enter grade ten but do not graduate. This has become a focus of the BDDEC vision which we hope to report on over the next five to ten years.”
As of the 2020/2021 year, the six-year graduation rate for the Northwest Territories is 60 per cent. Split between regions, the rate is 74 per cent in Yellowknife, 55 per cent in regional centres like Inuvik and 45 per cent in smaller communities. Graduation rates for Indigenous students is 49 per cent across the territory, compared to 81 per cent for non-Indigenous students. Roberts said BDDEC wants to turn those lower numbers around.
It is part of BDDEC’s overall 2022 to 2027 vision, developed by a council with representatives from all eight Beaufort Delta communities. The vision will renew the district’s focus on the Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum, which teachers are expected to bring into lessons as much as possible. To help facilitate this, teachers are encouraged to bring in knowledge keepers and Elders to help students learn traditional skills, stories and languages alongside learning science, technology, engineering and math.
A renewed focus on trades education as well as mental wellness is also part of the new vision. Roberts said the vision follows a concept of three “I’s” — Indigenized Education, Inquiry and Inclusive Schooling.
“Decolonizing the education system as much as possible within our local locus of control is a main priority for BDDEC,” he said. “The efforts to advance truth and reconciliation can be seen with the Elders in the School programs and BDDEC’s new vision which includes a focus on voice and choice for students. The voices of the youth in the region must be valued, fostered and supported throughout their education. BDDEC has asked all schools to develop a student council. These student councils will work together to provide youth more of a forum to bring forward ideas and concerns about their education system in real time.
“Also in the day to day classes BDDEC teachers are providing students more opportunities for voice and choice using inquiry as the main method of teaching. Students become active in their learning. They are encouraged to practice and become more comfortable with oracy skills. This is supported through partner talks and small group work eventually building students up to become confident in public ..Trapping, science, baking and more at BDDEC wisdom fest
Students from across the Beaufort Delta showed off their passion for knowledge at Beaufort Delta District Education Council’s Wisdom Fest. The annual fair allows students to explore projects in science, passion or heritage and provides cash prizes for the best work in several age groups. Students learned about concepts are varied as the political spectrum to hunting and trapping techniques and beyond.
This year’s medallists are:
Science
Grades 4 to 6
East Three Elementary School – Rita Garaba – first
East Three Elementary School – Atticus Willkomm – second
Moose Kerr School – Yehya Ayache – third
Grades 7 to 9
Moose Kerr School – Maryam Ayache – first
Mangilaluk School – Owen Whynot – second
Grades 10 to 12
East Three Secondary School William – Rogers and Rylan Wainman – first
Harmonie MacLeod-Lennie and Chloe Frost were second place in the passion project category. Eric Bowling/NNSL photo
Heritage
Grades 4 to 6
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Payton Inglangasuk and Cruz Blake Storr – first
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Sydney Van Loon – second
East Three Elementary School – Claire Letendre, Bristol Pidborochynski, and Avery Cardinal-Blake – third
Grades 7 to 9
East Three secondary School – Bea Dhungel – first
Chief Julius School – Diezel Blake, Aubrey Francis Norman, Alexis Koe, Jathena Vaneltsi, Krystal Firth, Adrianna Koe, Kiedyn Nerysoo, and Leah Vittrekwa – second
Chief Julius School – Aliayah Alexie and CJS Grade 8 Class – third
Grades 10 to 12
Moose Kerr School – Husineh Ayache and Sarah Meyook – first
East Three Secondary School – Alexandria Ruben – second
East Three Secondary School – Daniel Hartley – third
Passion
Grades 4 to 6
East Three Elementary School – Valerie Salloman – first
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Harmonie MacLeod-Lennie and Chloe Frost – second
Mangilaluk School – Trent Wolki – third
Grades 7 to 12
Moose Kerr School – Sydney McLeod – ..How a wrestling program took off in Ulukhaktok
At this year’s Arctic Winter Games, the NWT had two wrestlers on its team. Both of them came from Ulukhaktok.
Ben Inuktalik and Hunter Kitekudlak, both 13, were coached by fellow Ulukhaktok resident and Arctic Winter Games alumnus Jacob Klengenberg – and by school counsellor Monique Smith.
Smith was a university wrestler and had a good friend, Leah Ferguson, compete for Canada at the London 2012 Olympics.
Ferguson has since worked to develop Indigenous coaches and wrestlers in northern Manitoba. When Smith was contracted to work in Ulukhaktok, Gamètì and Wekweètì, she borrowed from Ferguson’s playbook and persuaded territorial sports agency Sport North to help find money for wrestling mats in each of the three communities.
“I’m up there anyway, why not volunteer wrestling?” Smith said she thought at the time.
“Therapeutically, when you create connections with kids – even outside the office – you have such a cool opportunity to meet the kids on their level.
“We do a lot of the therapeutic skills: we do mindfulness grounding, we do deep breathing. The things I’m trying to teach in the office, I can teach them on the wrestling mat.”
Klengenberg competed at the 2016 and 2018 Arctic Winter Games in snowshoe biathlon, a sport he took up following the efforts of an iconic NWT coach: the late Pat Bobinski.
Bobinski, who passed away in 2017, famously and tirelessly established biathlon as a sport in a wide range of northern communities, earning renown for the dedication with which he supported both his sport and young athletes.
Klengenberg said he sees some of that in Smith’s approach to wrestling.
“As somebody who has experienced somebody coming into the community and pretty-well dropping their impact, so to say, it’s sparking interest in the kids and the kids’ lives,” he said.
“They’re getting to know themselves as people, and I really think that’s awesome.
“Monique Smith has been amazing for not only the mental health side of things for our community, but also physical health and stuff like that.”
Monique Smith with Jacob Klengenberg
Monique Smith with Jacob Klengenberg. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
At the Arctic Winter Games in Fort McMurray, Inuktalik and Kitekudlak were cheered on and offered support by other teams at their first large wrestling event of any kind.
Currie, Crook and Kilo: NWT names its first music award winners
Published: September 10, 2022 at 10:42pmMEGAN MISKIMAN AND OLLIE WILLIAMSLAST MODIFIED: SEPTEMBER 11, 2022 AT 5:39PM
Miranda Currie, Crook the Kid and Kilo November were among the winners as Music NWT staged its inaugural awards ceremony in Yellowknife on Saturday.
Miranda Currie, right, collects the NWT's Indigenous artist of the year award from ceremony host Tanya Snow. Megan Miskiman/Cabin RadioMeanwhile, the Yellowknives Dene Drummers, Ted Wesley and Norm Glowach entered a newly formed NWT music hall of fame during a combined awards and induction ceremony at the Explorer Hotel.
Drummer Cody Drygeese said the award demonstrated the health of Dene drumming.
“I’m very happy to say that right now we have many people in our First Nation who are still participating in this ancient cultural practice,” he said.
Cody Drygeese, who appeared on behalf of the Yellowknives Dene Drummers for their induction into the NWT’s music hall of fame. Megan Miskiman/Cabin RadioGuitarist Ted Wesley passed away last December. Sister-in-law Heather Pritchard, appearing on his behalf, said Ted was “a wonderful musician with a very large range” who obsessively studied songs he heard.
“He didn’t do music for money or fame. He mostly played for free,” she said. “And he missed his chance for fame when he went to the Juno Awards, because they really wanted to sign up this wonderful young talent, but he would have to move to Toronto. And who the hell wants to leave the North to move to Toronto?”
Mayor of Yellowknife Rebecca Alty, introducing Norm Glowach as the night’s final inductee, noted he had spent decades focusing his immense skillset, from musical ability to audio engineering, on the Northwest Territories.
“I’m lucky,” said Glowach. “I get to record people. I get to work with my bandmates, who I have been playing with in Priscilla’s Revenge for 15 years. This is a pretty good life, I’d recommend it to anybody.”
Currie, named the NWT’s Indigenous artist of the year on Saturday, recently released an album designed to help children learn their traditional language.
“Every time I hear Miranda play, her music plays in my mind for the next six hours,” said the ceremony’s host, Inuk author and throat-singer Tanya Snow. Al Bee, right, receives the 2022 NWT Music Award for best new album. Megan Miskiman/Cabin Radio Crook the Kid at the 2022 NWT Music Awards. Megan Miskiman/Cabin ..Fan favourite Abe Drennan could not be more grateful by Eric Bowling October 5, 2022
Abe Drennan can’t say enough thanks to his fans.
He was named the first-ever NWT Music Awards Fan Choice at the first-ever gala Sept. 10 — edging out other big-name artists like Leela and Jay Gilday’s project Sechile – Sedare and the band Welders Daughter — for his music video Way Up North, which he filmed with local video-pro David Stewart. The video was also nominated for Music Video Excellence.
“It was amazing. It was an exhilarating feeling,” he said. “Right before the nominees are announced, you get this whole build-up and all of a sudden my name came up. I was just so happy.
“The Fan Choice award is a great award to win. All the awards are great, but I think the Fan Choice is great because you’re chosen by the people who listen to and like your music. And that matters most, because without our fans as artists we’re just folks making music in our basements. The fans are the ones who appreciate and value what we do — how could I not be more grateful.”
With 20 years of work put into his music, Drennan said being named the fan favourite felt like an acknowledgement of the time he’s put into his craft. But more-so he said it was the result of the many friends he’s made through music along the way.
“For years and years I have been sharing my music with people,” he said. “From my hometown in Bancroft, Ont. which I know is always supporting my music and what I’m doing, and folks from here and family and friends. It’s just a culmination of time. That adds up and those relationships build.
“I’m all about connecting to people and building meaningful relationships. That’s who I am. And you know, I know my people have my back, but this was just a further confirmation of that. It just felt so good.”
His own recognition aside, Drennan said it was an important milestone for the NWT to host an Music Awards Gala and the effort to bring it about has been underway for a long time.
Put on by Music NWT and initially pushed by Trevor Sinclair, the awards ceremony was the first of its kind.
“It’s was an important step in establishing our musical community in the NWT,” he said. “It was good for artist recognition, good for community building and great connecting with everybody.
“Many of the award winners and such were people I haven’t had the chance to meet face to face, but I have been collaborating with people around the NWT virtually for over a year now and finally we came together. It so special that way.”
Now that he’s earned his mantelpiece, Drennan is back to his life’s work, with plans to put together a new single and album over the winter.
He said he’s working on an ..Ulukhaktok mural reflects life in a new land for Muslim teen from Ontario
For 17-year-old Ruqaiyah Noor-e-Zahra Naqvi, living in the small N.W.T. hamlet of Ulukhaktok means muskox hunts, snowfalls like she's never seen before, drum dances and ravens.
Naqvi, a Muslim student at Helen Kalvak School who recently moved to the community of about 400 people, brought all those concepts together with the help of fellow student Alison Klengenberg-Kuneluk for a mural that now hangs on a wall at the school.
"It's definitely [an] interesting thing for me to try, because I never worked on a project that big," said Naqvi, who is in Grade 12.
"I think definitely because of the friends I've met here, I was able to try new things and kind of open myself up a bit."
Naqvi and her family moved to Ulukhaktok in 2020 when her mother took a job as a junior high teacher at the school. It was an unplanned move for the family, who had been living in Burlington, Ont.
"When we were going to move to Ulukhaktok … I almost felt like I get to see another view, another side of my brothers or sisters in humanity," said Ambreen Zahra Bokhari, Naqvi's mother. "We are all part of the same light."
Ruqaiya Noor-e-Zahra Naqvi, left, with her mom Ambreen Zahra Bohari and sister Sakina-Mariam Sufia Naqvi. The family moved to Ulukhaktok in 2020. (Submitted by Ambreen Zahra Bohari)Though out of her comfort zone at first, Naqvi soon settled in. She began to meet people, make friends, and started her own creative arts club. She joined a muskox hunt with other students, took part in a drum dance and learned from elders about what they experienced at residential schools.
"It broke my heart," she said of hearing those residential school experiences. "But I think the point of them sharing it was to remind people of how far they've come in what has happened in the past, so you don't forget."
She wove those emotional and special experiences all together with paint. She's thankful, she said, for the history, culture and knowledge people have shared with her.
"If you told me two or three years ago that I would go hunting for muskox for nine hours in deep snow … I would be like, 'Are you crazy? I would never do something like that!'" she said.
"That's an experience you don't forget."
The mural is one of 33 ..GNWT job satisfaction increasingly resembles shrug emoji
The latest GNWT satisfaction survey suggests life at the territorial government is, for an increasing number of staff, as appetizing as a gentle slap in the face with a wet fish.
A fish doing its "another day at the territorial government" face. Olga Labusova/DreamstimeWhile a majority of employees are broadly happy, results published on Tuesday show morale has dipped since a 2016 survey and pride in the NWT government is slipping.
Sixty-five percent of people said they are proud to work at the GNWT, a drop of six percent since 2016. Sixty-six percent of people said they’d recommend the GNWT as a great place to work, also a six-percent decline.
Seventy-four percent of staff responding to the survey said they agreed with the phrase: “Overall, I am satisfied in my work as a GNWT employee.” That figure had dropped just under one percent since the last survey and has essentially remained unchanged for a decade or more.
Overall, the survey reported a 3.4-percent drop in GNWT morale since 2016. High turnover rates and an inability (or disinclination) to take annual leave were highlighted issues. The report containing the results stated that the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated travel rules were probably factors.
A GNWT press release about the results on Tuesday avoided mentioning any of them, though there were some bright spots among a general sense of mild decay.
“These results provide the GNWT with the information needed to improve employee engagement and satisfaction across the public service,” said finance minister Caroline Wawzonek, whose department oversees human resources.
The good news? NWT government staff think some aspects of diversity at work are going well.
Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed that “the GNWT promotes cross-cultural awareness opportunities for employees,” a whopping nine-percent increase on 2016’s figure and the largest improvement across any aspect of the survey. The report’s authors concluded GNWT initiatives in this area are having “tangible impacts.”
On top of that, 90 percent of respondents said they have good relations with their coworkers. More than 80 percent find at least some of their work “challenging and interesting.”
Yet despite this, only 52 percent of people responding agreed with the statement: “I would describe our workplace as being psychologically healthy.” (This was a new question for 2021 and doesn’t have a previous result for the purposes of comparison.)
Only 57 percent said they felt valued as a GNWT ..Students' caribou hunt in Aklavik provides meat for entire school
6 students teamed up with 6 skilled hunters for an on-the-land experience
CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2022 10:27 AM PST | Last Updated: November 22, 2022 A group of students from Aklavik, N.W.T., went on a caribou hunt with some experienced hunters earlier this month. They came back with six animals — enough for every student at the local school to bring some meat home. (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)It was an all-new experience for Jordan Archie.
"My brothers and them would go, but for me, this was my first time ever going caribou hunting," said Archie, a student at Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, N.W.T.
Archie was part of a group of students from the school that teamed up with some local hunters this month to harvest some caribou. It was organized as a one-on-one learning experience on the land, with six students and six experienced hunters.
"I think of it as a great opportunity and I was thankful of going," Archie said.
Megan Lennie, a regional youth coordinator with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), helped organize the event along with another teacher at the school. It was organized through Project Jewel, an on-the-land wellness initiative run by the IRC.
Lennie said the original idea for the hunt came from a student.
"They wanted a community harvest but they had no knowledge on how to get up there, and what the terrain was going to be like," Lennie said.
"So it was a perfect way to encourage knowledge sharing, and to provide meat to the entire school."
The six students — all boys, aged 16 to 18 — were teamed with six older hunters. (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)She said it all came together quickly.
"The idea came on Wednesday and we ran it … we decided to run it the next Monday. So then the boys went out on Monday to harvest," she said.
It was a cold day — around –27 C with the wind chill, Lennie said. They packed up some sandwiches and snacks for the six students and off they went.
The Porcupine caribou herd was not far from the community, so it was possible to do the excursion as a day-trip.
Some of the students had been hunting before, but Lennie said it was still a good learning experience for them. 'It was a perfect way to encourage knowledge sharing, and to provide meat to the entire school,' said organizer Megan Lennie, regional youth coordinator with the ..‘We need to do this as a community’: Abe Drennan celebrates pandemic resilience with ‘Unknown Road’ POSTED BY: IAN DOWN NOVEMBER 24, 2022
Inuvik singer-songwriter Abe Drennan remembers the fear that gripped him in the first weeks of the pandemic.
“I went out to buy groceries at Stanton for the first time since we shut down,” he remembers. “And I remember feeling a real fear that I have never felt before — I’ve felt fear before, but not like this. And it was going to the grocery store.”
“Whenever I feel something like that, something that powerful, I have to work it through it, through song and through writing.”
Almost two-and-a-half years later, that writing process turned out “Unknown Road,” a modern folk tune that reflects on the resilience of the Inuvik community in the face of pandemic adversity.
Gradually, the community was able to come back together as restrictions were lifted and life returned to normal. “Trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel was really hard sometimes, right?” says Drennan. “But when the mask mandates were lifted, and we could actually gather, I was like, ‘No, we need to do this as a community, we need to come together.'”
The accompanying video is also a tribute to Drennan’s home community: It opens with a shot of him walking across the ice road that connects Inuvik and Aklavik, and features shots of the inside of East Three Secondary School and a crowd of local students.
At the climax of the video, “When the community joined me on the walk down the road, it was the opportunity to symbolize that, here we are, having come out of this horrific experience,” says Drennan. “And here we are back together again. And it was a reason to celebrate.”
Drennan, who is also a teacher, won this year’s Fan’s Choice award at the NWT Music Awards. “Unknown Road” is part of a planned new EP that should be released sometime next spring. A new Christmas song, “Light of the Season,” will also be released on Dec. 17.
“Unknown Road” and its accompanying music video are now available to stream on YouTube. The single is also available to stream on Apple and Spotify.
Grade 9 teacher in Inuvik is Sport North's Coach of the Year
Stephanie Parkes didn't previously play basketball.
But recently, she was named coach of the year by Sport North, in honour of her efforts coaching the boys' basketball team at a school in Inuvik, N.W.T.
"I was shocked," she said. "Honoured. It's nice to have the recognition."
Sport North aims to develop and promote amateur sport in the Northwest Territories. It's responsible for providing programs and services for organized sport throughout the territory.
Parkes teaches Grade 9 math and is the boys' basketball coach at East Three Secondary School.
She said her journey into coaching began around 2008 when a friend needed her help chaperoning. It was a chance for her to hang out with the kids outside of the classroom setting — and she loved the experience..
"I see the kids a lot in the building. But it was really nice to get out of the school, make connections with the kids. Some of the students that maybe struggle academically — you really get to see a different side of them," Parkes said.
"You get to see them shine. I just fell in love with it."
Parkes seen from behind, speaking with the boys basketball team she coaches in Inuvik. She says it's more than just coaching — Parkes offers guidance, leadership and a safe place for the kids. (Submitted by Stephanie Parkes)For the last six or seven years, she's stuck with the same group of kids, who are now in Grade 12.
"It's been a journey for sure," she said. "A lot goes into coaching."
That includes five days a week in the gym, a lot of effort fundraising and travelling with the kids to Yellowknife.
"There's a lot to juggle," Parkes said. "It's time away from your own family. And my family has always been super supportive of me working outside of the house and chaperoning."
The time commitment, she said, pays off.
"We've had a pretty consistent team through the years. The kids are super dedicated," Parkes said.
"When you hear from teenagers that they appreciate you, and the things that you've done for their life, it kind of ..Inuvik Drum Youth of the Week: Noah Cormier
Our Youth of the Week is Noah Cormier, seen here with RKV Bladesmith Rory Voudrach. Noah has been participating in an on-the-land school program with his father, learning traditional survival methods. After watching others working with an ulu, Noah decided he wanted one himself and has been operating a lemonade stand and collecting bottles for the past several months to save up. He finally got his blade at the Christmas Craft Fair Nov. 25 to 27. Photo courtesy of Kimberlly Walters
Beaufort Delta Schools kill bullying with kindness
When it comes to standing up to bullying, Beaufort Delta District Education Council takes an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Superintendent Devin Roberts listed 11 different programs active across the district, both in nurturing safe environments and addressing bullying when it happens. Among the programs he cited were the school district’s Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and the “Walk Away, Ignore, Talk it Out and Seek Help” (WITS) programs.
“GSAs provide a safe, supportive environment for students of diverse genders and sexualities to meet, discuss sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and form a community. GSAs also welcome straight, cisgender ally youth,” he said. “The WITS Programs bring together schools, families and communities to create responsive environments that help elementary school children deal with conflict and peer victimization, such as discrimination and bullying.
“(A third program,) LEADS challenges students to become leaders in their community. It encourages understanding of different perspectives by using five problem-solving strategies: Look and Listen, Explore Points of View, Act, Did it Work? and Seek Help.”
Getting feedback from student councils and assemblies, Roberts said all BDDEC schools have a Safe and Caring School Committee, designed to ensure schools have healthy programming and were positive spaces for everyone inside them. BDDEC also commits to safe school plans that report, document and respond to incidents of bullying. Individual schools identify specific issues to target strategies, though Roberts noted preventing bullying is a community-wide effort.
Consequentially, the school district uses its programming to target the entire learning community to promote healthy relationships, as well as teach students proactive incident reporting skills and safe intervention tactics, as well as conflict resolution.
As part of the effort to promote a safe and healthy culture, two schools are going the extra distance in the lead-up to Pink Shirt Day, which is Feb. 22. Moose Kerr School in Aklavik will have an Acts of Kindness and wisdom week staying Feb. 27 to promote kindness among students. Meanwhile, an Random Act of Kindness month is already underway at East Three Secondary school.
Programming is administered with a holistic approach in mind. Roberts noted three healthy relationship programs were directly oriented towards stopping bullying before it starts, including the Fourth R Program, which uses a thematic approach to reduce aggressive behaviours in youth and substance abuse. A second program, the WiseGuyz program, targets teenagers and helps guide them through the chaotic world of dating.
“Importantly, many of these adolescent risk behaviours overlap because they occur in the context of relationships,” ..Students in Inuvik, N.W.T., build and fly their own drones
Students in Inuvik are getting a higher education this week.
Drone training has been happening for Grade 7 and 8 students at East Three Secondary School.
Students are being taught regulations, safety rules and the different things drones can be used for.
Once they learned the rules and what is legally allowed, they were able to fly mini-drones in their school.
The groups were also able to assemble their own drones and fly them inside the classroom.
Maverick Aleekuk-Lennie is a Grade 7 student who is really interested in technology and was eager to pilot a drone on his own.
"We're seeing through the eyes of a non-living thing that we control and it goes a lot faster than us," he said.
The one-day program is being hosted by Indigenous Aerospace, a group that promotes and educates drone use in remote communities across Canada.
Jacob Taylor is the CEO of Indigenous Aerospace and was in Inuvik to help facilitate the event.
Taylor said bringing drones into the schools and giving students first-hand knowledge is the first step in starting careers in that field.
"The program is really great at inspiring young people to engage in science, technology, engineering and math careers as well as curriculums so it's a really positive retention tool," said Taylor.
The introduction to drone piloting is something that really interested Grade 8 student Thomas Wilbert Thrasher. He plans on starting a company that produces video games, and this technology is something he would like to use in the future.
"I just really want to start my own company. I really want to learn how to code video games, I have been learning about that for a while," said Thrasher.
Using a drone to scan and map areas is something of interest to Thrasher so he can integrate that into his video games.
Thrasher hopes to see more programs like this in the school soon.
"This is really interesting and they should do it more," he said.
Educational Exchange Newsletter
Nicolas Kopot
Principal, Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School (Ulukhaktok, NT) Graduate of the Bachelor of Education program (2010); Master of Education for Change program (2015) “Growing up in Thunder Bay, I had a predominantly westernized education that privileged linearity and results. As I have gained experience as a teacher and an administrator, I have been consciously decolonizing my mind and my practice. I am fortunate to be in a territory that is experiencing a curriculum renewal—shifting from outcome-based to a competency and skills-based inquiry model. I am currently in my 8th year in the Beaufort Delta of the Northwest Territories. I am privileged to work and play in a small Inuvialuit hamlet called Ulukhaktok. Ulu, as it is commonly known, is on Canada’s second largest island, Victoria Island. I am a teaching principal at a school of 120 mostly Inuvialuit students. As teaching positions in the Thunder Bay region were quite sparse following my BEd, I opted to continue in the honors year of my BA (French) at Lakehead. Throughout that year, I also worked as a tutor at Scholars Education, and taught many Kindergarten-Grade 8 French Immersion classrooms across Thunder Bay as a substitute. In 2011, I accepted a full-time teaching position in Nunavut. What a wonderful, eye-opening experience that was! I instantly fell in love with the North, the Inuit culture, and the reciprocal way of life. Many have heard the expression “it takes a village…”—I experienced this, first hand.
After some moves around the country, I returned to Thunder Bay in 2014. That summer, I had the fortune of sitting with a senior member of Lakehead’s Faculty of Education. As we discussed our unique travels and shared experiences in the North of Canada, he inspired me to reflect deeply on my educational journey. With his encouragement, I chose to apply to the inaugural year of the Education for Change, Masters of Education program at Lakehead. This decision would forever change me. After working four semesters consecutively, I graduated in the summer of 2015 with my MEd, specializing in Indigenous Education. I can thank my Indigenous Education professor (among others) from my BEd year for inspiring me to take a path towards genuine community building. I am inspired to lead a school through inclusion, collaboration, and co-regulation. Much of my time is devoted to promoting a healthy environment for my students to define success through their voice and choice. This enables our students to actively co-create meaningful learning experiences. My passion remains in place-based education where my community’s values are not only reflected in the pedagogical practices of my teachers: they are the foundation for all programming. My advice for new teachers is to find a school system that fits your values. Remember: half of the equation is what you do; the ..
Beaufort Delta District Education Council unveils five-year vision
Beaufort Delta District Education Council (BDDEC) is aggressively working to improve graduation rates.
Superintendent Devin Roberts said the district has gone so far as to expand its team of mobile teachers.
“This year new trades teachers were hired to travel the district and provide more high school courses to smaller schools outside of Inuvik,” he said. “The plan is to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of students who enter grade ten but do not graduate. This has become a focus of the BDDEC vision which we hope to report on over the next five to ten years.”
As of the 2020/2021 year, the six-year graduation rate for the Northwest Territories is 60 per cent. Split between regions, the rate is 74 per cent in Yellowknife, 55 per cent in regional centres like Inuvik and 45 per cent in smaller communities. Graduation rates for Indigenous students is 49 per cent across the territory, compared to 81 per cent for non-Indigenous students. Roberts said BDDEC wants to turn those lower numbers around.
It is part of BDDEC’s overall 2022 to 2027 vision, developed by a council with representatives from all eight Beaufort Delta communities. The vision will renew the district’s focus on the Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum, which teachers are expected to bring into lessons as much as possible. To help facilitate this, teachers are encouraged to bring in knowledge keepers and Elders to help students learn traditional skills, stories and languages alongside learning science, technology, engineering and math.
A renewed focus on trades education as well as mental wellness is also part of the new vision. Roberts said the vision follows a concept of three “I’s” — Indigenized Education, Inquiry and Inclusive Schooling.
“Decolonizing the education system as much as possible within our local locus of control is a main priority for BDDEC,” he said. “The efforts to advance truth and reconciliation can be seen with the Elders in the School programs and BDDEC’s new vision which includes a focus on voice and choice for students. The voices of the youth in the region must be valued, fostered and supported throughout their education. BDDEC has asked all schools to develop a student council. These student councils will work together to provide youth more of a forum to bring forward ideas and concerns about their education system in real time.
“Also in the day to day classes BDDEC teachers are providing students more opportunities for voice and choice using inquiry as the main method of teaching. Students become active in their learning. They are encouraged to practice and become more comfortable with oracy skills. This is supported through partner talks and small group work eventually building students up to become confident in public ..Beaufort Delta District Education Council unveils five-year vision
Beaufort Delta District Education Council (BDDEC) is aggressively working to improve graduation rates.
Superintendent Devin Roberts said the district has gone so far as to expand its team of mobile teachers.
“This year new trades teachers were hired to travel the district and provide more high school courses to smaller schools outside of Inuvik,” he said. “The plan is to improve graduation rates and reduce the number of students who enter grade ten but do not graduate. This has become a focus of the BDDEC vision which we hope to report on over the next five to ten years.”
As of the 2020/2021 year, the six-year graduation rate for the Northwest Territories is 60 per cent. Split between regions, the rate is 74 per cent in Yellowknife, 55 per cent in regional centres like Inuvik and 45 per cent in smaller communities. Graduation rates for Indigenous students is 49 per cent across the territory, compared to 81 per cent for non-Indigenous students. Roberts said BDDEC wants to turn those lower numbers around.
It is part of BDDEC’s overall 2022 to 2027 vision, developed by a council with representatives from all eight Beaufort Delta communities. The vision will renew the district’s focus on the Dene Kede and Inuuqatigiit curriculum, which teachers are expected to bring into lessons as much as possible. To help facilitate this, teachers are encouraged to bring in knowledge keepers and Elders to help students learn traditional skills, stories and languages alongside learning science, technology, engineering and math.
A renewed focus on trades education as well as mental wellness is also part of the new vision. Roberts said the vision follows a concept of three “I’s” — Indigenized Education, Inquiry and Inclusive Schooling.
“Decolonizing the education system as much as possible within our local locus of control is a main priority for BDDEC,” he said. “The efforts to advance truth and reconciliation can be seen with the Elders in the School programs and BDDEC’s new vision which includes a focus on voice and choice for students. The voices of the youth in the region must be valued, fostered and supported throughout their education. BDDEC has asked all schools to develop a student council. These student councils will work together to provide youth more of a forum to bring forward ideas and concerns about their education system in real time.
“Also in the day to day classes BDDEC teachers are providing students more opportunities for voice and choice using inquiry as the main method of teaching. Students become active in their learning. They are encouraged to practice and become more comfortable with oracy skills. This is supported through partner talks and small group work eventually building students up to become confident in public ..Trapping, science, baking and more at BDDEC wisdom fest
Students from across the Beaufort Delta showed off their passion for knowledge at Beaufort Delta District Education Council’s Wisdom Fest. The annual fair allows students to explore projects in science, passion or heritage and provides cash prizes for the best work in several age groups. Students learned about concepts are varied as the political spectrum to hunting and trapping techniques and beyond.
This year’s medallists are:
Science
Grades 4 to 6
East Three Elementary School – Rita Garaba – first
East Three Elementary School – Atticus Willkomm – second
Moose Kerr School – Yehya Ayache – third
Grades 7 to 9
Moose Kerr School – Maryam Ayache – first
Mangilaluk School – Owen Whynot – second
Grades 10 to 12
East Three Secondary School William – Rogers and Rylan Wainman – first
Harmonie MacLeod-Lennie and Chloe Frost were second place in the passion project category. Eric Bowling/NNSL photo
Heritage
Grades 4 to 6
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Payton Inglangasuk and Cruz Blake Storr – first
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Sydney Van Loon – second
East Three Elementary School – Claire Letendre, Bristol Pidborochynski, and Avery Cardinal-Blake – third
Grades 7 to 9
East Three secondary School – Bea Dhungel – first
Chief Julius School – Diezel Blake, Aubrey Francis Norman, Alexis Koe, Jathena Vaneltsi, Krystal Firth, Adrianna Koe, Kiedyn Nerysoo, and Leah Vittrekwa – second
Chief Julius School – Aliayah Alexie and CJS Grade 8 Class – third
Grades 10 to 12
Moose Kerr School – Husineh Ayache and Sarah Meyook – first
East Three Secondary School – Alexandria Ruben – second
East Three Secondary School – Daniel Hartley – third
Passion
Grades 4 to 6
East Three Elementary School – Valerie Salloman – first
Chief Paul Niditchie School – Harmonie MacLeod-Lennie and Chloe Frost – second
Mangilaluk School – Trent Wolki – third
Grades 7 to 12
Moose Kerr School – Sydney McLeod – ..How a wrestling program took off in Ulukhaktok
At this year’s Arctic Winter Games, the NWT had two wrestlers on its team. Both of them came from Ulukhaktok.
Ben Inuktalik and Hunter Kitekudlak, both 13, were coached by fellow Ulukhaktok resident and Arctic Winter Games alumnus Jacob Klengenberg – and by school counsellor Monique Smith.
Smith was a university wrestler and had a good friend, Leah Ferguson, compete for Canada at the London 2012 Olympics.
Ferguson has since worked to develop Indigenous coaches and wrestlers in northern Manitoba. When Smith was contracted to work in Ulukhaktok, Gamètì and Wekweètì, she borrowed from Ferguson’s playbook and persuaded territorial sports agency Sport North to help find money for wrestling mats in each of the three communities.
“I’m up there anyway, why not volunteer wrestling?” Smith said she thought at the time.
“Therapeutically, when you create connections with kids – even outside the office – you have such a cool opportunity to meet the kids on their level.
“We do a lot of the therapeutic skills: we do mindfulness grounding, we do deep breathing. The things I’m trying to teach in the office, I can teach them on the wrestling mat.”
Klengenberg competed at the 2016 and 2018 Arctic Winter Games in snowshoe biathlon, a sport he took up following the efforts of an iconic NWT coach: the late Pat Bobinski.
Bobinski, who passed away in 2017, famously and tirelessly established biathlon as a sport in a wide range of northern communities, earning renown for the dedication with which he supported both his sport and young athletes.
Klengenberg said he sees some of that in Smith’s approach to wrestling.
“As somebody who has experienced somebody coming into the community and pretty-well dropping their impact, so to say, it’s sparking interest in the kids and the kids’ lives,” he said.
“They’re getting to know themselves as people, and I really think that’s awesome.
“Monique Smith has been amazing for not only the mental health side of things for our community, but also physical health and stuff like that.”
Monique Smith with Jacob Klengenberg
Monique Smith with Jacob Klengenberg. Ollie Williams/Cabin Radio
At the Arctic Winter Games in Fort McMurray, Inuktalik and Kitekudlak were cheered on and offered support by other teams at their first large wrestling event of any kind.
Currie, Crook and Kilo: NWT names its first music award winners
Published: September 10, 2022 at 10:42pmMEGAN MISKIMAN AND OLLIE WILLIAMSLAST MODIFIED: SEPTEMBER 11, 2022 AT 5:39PM
Miranda Currie, Crook the Kid and Kilo November were among the winners as Music NWT staged its inaugural awards ceremony in Yellowknife on Saturday.
Miranda Currie, right, collects the NWT's Indigenous artist of the year award from ceremony host Tanya Snow. Megan Miskiman/Cabin RadioMeanwhile, the Yellowknives Dene Drummers, Ted Wesley and Norm Glowach entered a newly formed NWT music hall of fame during a combined awards and induction ceremony at the Explorer Hotel.
Drummer Cody Drygeese said the award demonstrated the health of Dene drumming.
“I’m very happy to say that right now we have many people in our First Nation who are still participating in this ancient cultural practice,” he said.
Cody Drygeese, who appeared on behalf of the Yellowknives Dene Drummers for their induction into the NWT’s music hall of fame. Megan Miskiman/Cabin RadioGuitarist Ted Wesley passed away last December. Sister-in-law Heather Pritchard, appearing on his behalf, said Ted was “a wonderful musician with a very large range” who obsessively studied songs he heard.
“He didn’t do music for money or fame. He mostly played for free,” she said. “And he missed his chance for fame when he went to the Juno Awards, because they really wanted to sign up this wonderful young talent, but he would have to move to Toronto. And who the hell wants to leave the North to move to Toronto?”
Mayor of Yellowknife Rebecca Alty, introducing Norm Glowach as the night’s final inductee, noted he had spent decades focusing his immense skillset, from musical ability to audio engineering, on the Northwest Territories.
“I’m lucky,” said Glowach. “I get to record people. I get to work with my bandmates, who I have been playing with in Priscilla’s Revenge for 15 years. This is a pretty good life, I’d recommend it to anybody.”
Currie, named the NWT’s Indigenous artist of the year on Saturday, recently released an album designed to help children learn their traditional language.
“Every time I hear Miranda play, her music plays in my mind for the next six hours,” said the ceremony’s host, Inuk author and throat-singer Tanya Snow. Al Bee, right, receives the 2022 NWT Music Award for best new album. Megan Miskiman/Cabin Radio Crook the Kid at the 2022 NWT Music Awards. Megan Miskiman/Cabin ..Fan favourite Abe Drennan could not be more grateful by Eric Bowling October 5, 2022
Abe Drennan can’t say enough thanks to his fans.
He was named the first-ever NWT Music Awards Fan Choice at the first-ever gala Sept. 10 — edging out other big-name artists like Leela and Jay Gilday’s project Sechile – Sedare and the band Welders Daughter — for his music video Way Up North, which he filmed with local video-pro David Stewart. The video was also nominated for Music Video Excellence.
“It was amazing. It was an exhilarating feeling,” he said. “Right before the nominees are announced, you get this whole build-up and all of a sudden my name came up. I was just so happy.
“The Fan Choice award is a great award to win. All the awards are great, but I think the Fan Choice is great because you’re chosen by the people who listen to and like your music. And that matters most, because without our fans as artists we’re just folks making music in our basements. The fans are the ones who appreciate and value what we do — how could I not be more grateful.”
With 20 years of work put into his music, Drennan said being named the fan favourite felt like an acknowledgement of the time he’s put into his craft. But more-so he said it was the result of the many friends he’s made through music along the way.
“For years and years I have been sharing my music with people,” he said. “From my hometown in Bancroft, Ont. which I know is always supporting my music and what I’m doing, and folks from here and family and friends. It’s just a culmination of time. That adds up and those relationships build.
“I’m all about connecting to people and building meaningful relationships. That’s who I am. And you know, I know my people have my back, but this was just a further confirmation of that. It just felt so good.”
His own recognition aside, Drennan said it was an important milestone for the NWT to host an Music Awards Gala and the effort to bring it about has been underway for a long time.
Put on by Music NWT and initially pushed by Trevor Sinclair, the awards ceremony was the first of its kind.
“It’s was an important step in establishing our musical community in the NWT,” he said. “It was good for artist recognition, good for community building and great connecting with everybody.
“Many of the award winners and such were people I haven’t had the chance to meet face to face, but I have been collaborating with people around the NWT virtually for over a year now and finally we came together. It so special that way.”
Now that he’s earned his mantelpiece, Drennan is back to his life’s work, with plans to put together a new single and album over the winter.
He said he’s working on an ..Ulukhaktok mural reflects life in a new land for Muslim teen from Ontario
For 17-year-old Ruqaiyah Noor-e-Zahra Naqvi, living in the small N.W.T. hamlet of Ulukhaktok means muskox hunts, snowfalls like she's never seen before, drum dances and ravens.
Naqvi, a Muslim student at Helen Kalvak School who recently moved to the community of about 400 people, brought all those concepts together with the help of fellow student Alison Klengenberg-Kuneluk for a mural that now hangs on a wall at the school.
"It's definitely [an] interesting thing for me to try, because I never worked on a project that big," said Naqvi, who is in Grade 12.
"I think definitely because of the friends I've met here, I was able to try new things and kind of open myself up a bit."
Naqvi and her family moved to Ulukhaktok in 2020 when her mother took a job as a junior high teacher at the school. It was an unplanned move for the family, who had been living in Burlington, Ont.
"When we were going to move to Ulukhaktok … I almost felt like I get to see another view, another side of my brothers or sisters in humanity," said Ambreen Zahra Bokhari, Naqvi's mother. "We are all part of the same light."
Ruqaiya Noor-e-Zahra Naqvi, left, with her mom Ambreen Zahra Bohari and sister Sakina-Mariam Sufia Naqvi. The family moved to Ulukhaktok in 2020. (Submitted by Ambreen Zahra Bohari)Though out of her comfort zone at first, Naqvi soon settled in. She began to meet people, make friends, and started her own creative arts club. She joined a muskox hunt with other students, took part in a drum dance and learned from elders about what they experienced at residential schools.
"It broke my heart," she said of hearing those residential school experiences. "But I think the point of them sharing it was to remind people of how far they've come in what has happened in the past, so you don't forget."
She wove those emotional and special experiences all together with paint. She's thankful, she said, for the history, culture and knowledge people have shared with her.
"If you told me two or three years ago that I would go hunting for muskox for nine hours in deep snow … I would be like, 'Are you crazy? I would never do something like that!'" she said.
"That's an experience you don't forget."
The mural is one of 33 ..GNWT job satisfaction increasingly resembles shrug emoji
The latest GNWT satisfaction survey suggests life at the territorial government is, for an increasing number of staff, as appetizing as a gentle slap in the face with a wet fish.
A fish doing its "another day at the territorial government" face. Olga Labusova/DreamstimeWhile a majority of employees are broadly happy, results published on Tuesday show morale has dipped since a 2016 survey and pride in the NWT government is slipping.
Sixty-five percent of people said they are proud to work at the GNWT, a drop of six percent since 2016. Sixty-six percent of people said they’d recommend the GNWT as a great place to work, also a six-percent decline.
Seventy-four percent of staff responding to the survey said they agreed with the phrase: “Overall, I am satisfied in my work as a GNWT employee.” That figure had dropped just under one percent since the last survey and has essentially remained unchanged for a decade or more.
Overall, the survey reported a 3.4-percent drop in GNWT morale since 2016. High turnover rates and an inability (or disinclination) to take annual leave were highlighted issues. The report containing the results stated that the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated travel rules were probably factors.
A GNWT press release about the results on Tuesday avoided mentioning any of them, though there were some bright spots among a general sense of mild decay.
“These results provide the GNWT with the information needed to improve employee engagement and satisfaction across the public service,” said finance minister Caroline Wawzonek, whose department oversees human resources.
The good news? NWT government staff think some aspects of diversity at work are going well.
Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed that “the GNWT promotes cross-cultural awareness opportunities for employees,” a whopping nine-percent increase on 2016’s figure and the largest improvement across any aspect of the survey. The report’s authors concluded GNWT initiatives in this area are having “tangible impacts.”
On top of that, 90 percent of respondents said they have good relations with their coworkers. More than 80 percent find at least some of their work “challenging and interesting.”
Yet despite this, only 52 percent of people responding agreed with the statement: “I would describe our workplace as being psychologically healthy.” (This was a new question for 2021 and doesn’t have a previous result for the purposes of comparison.)
Only 57 percent said they felt valued as a GNWT ..Students' caribou hunt in Aklavik provides meat for entire school
6 students teamed up with 6 skilled hunters for an on-the-land experience
CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2022 10:27 AM PST | Last Updated: November 22, 2022 A group of students from Aklavik, N.W.T., went on a caribou hunt with some experienced hunters earlier this month. They came back with six animals — enough for every student at the local school to bring some meat home. (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)It was an all-new experience for Jordan Archie.
"My brothers and them would go, but for me, this was my first time ever going caribou hunting," said Archie, a student at Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, N.W.T.
Archie was part of a group of students from the school that teamed up with some local hunters this month to harvest some caribou. It was organized as a one-on-one learning experience on the land, with six students and six experienced hunters.
"I think of it as a great opportunity and I was thankful of going," Archie said.
Megan Lennie, a regional youth coordinator with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), helped organize the event along with another teacher at the school. It was organized through Project Jewel, an on-the-land wellness initiative run by the IRC.
Lennie said the original idea for the hunt came from a student.
"They wanted a community harvest but they had no knowledge on how to get up there, and what the terrain was going to be like," Lennie said.
"So it was a perfect way to encourage knowledge sharing, and to provide meat to the entire school."
The six students — all boys, aged 16 to 18 — were teamed with six older hunters. (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation)She said it all came together quickly.
"The idea came on Wednesday and we ran it … we decided to run it the next Monday. So then the boys went out on Monday to harvest," she said.
It was a cold day — around –27 C with the wind chill, Lennie said. They packed up some sandwiches and snacks for the six students and off they went.
The Porcupine caribou herd was not far from the community, so it was possible to do the excursion as a day-trip.
Some of the students had been hunting before, but Lennie said it was still a good learning experience for them. 'It was a perfect way to encourage knowledge sharing, and to provide meat to the entire school,' said organizer Megan Lennie, regional youth coordinator with the ..‘We need to do this as a community’: Abe Drennan celebrates pandemic resilience with ‘Unknown Road’ POSTED BY: IAN DOWN NOVEMBER 24, 2022
Inuvik singer-songwriter Abe Drennan remembers the fear that gripped him in the first weeks of the pandemic.
“I went out to buy groceries at Stanton for the first time since we shut down,” he remembers. “And I remember feeling a real fear that I have never felt before — I’ve felt fear before, but not like this. And it was going to the grocery store.”
“Whenever I feel something like that, something that powerful, I have to work it through it, through song and through writing.”
Almost two-and-a-half years later, that writing process turned out “Unknown Road,” a modern folk tune that reflects on the resilience of the Inuvik community in the face of pandemic adversity.
Gradually, the community was able to come back together as restrictions were lifted and life returned to normal. “Trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel was really hard sometimes, right?” says Drennan. “But when the mask mandates were lifted, and we could actually gather, I was like, ‘No, we need to do this as a community, we need to come together.'”
The accompanying video is also a tribute to Drennan’s home community: It opens with a shot of him walking across the ice road that connects Inuvik and Aklavik, and features shots of the inside of East Three Secondary School and a crowd of local students.
At the climax of the video, “When the community joined me on the walk down the road, it was the opportunity to symbolize that, here we are, having come out of this horrific experience,” says Drennan. “And here we are back together again. And it was a reason to celebrate.”
Drennan, who is also a teacher, won this year’s Fan’s Choice award at the NWT Music Awards. “Unknown Road” is part of a planned new EP that should be released sometime next spring. A new Christmas song, “Light of the Season,” will also be released on Dec. 17.
“Unknown Road” and its accompanying music video are now available to stream on YouTube. The single is also available to stream on Apple and Spotify.
Grade 9 teacher in Inuvik is Sport North's Coach of the Year
Stephanie Parkes didn't previously play basketball.
But recently, she was named coach of the year by Sport North, in honour of her efforts coaching the boys' basketball team at a school in Inuvik, N.W.T.
"I was shocked," she said. "Honoured. It's nice to have the recognition."
Sport North aims to develop and promote amateur sport in the Northwest Territories. It's responsible for providing programs and services for organized sport throughout the territory.
Parkes teaches Grade 9 math and is the boys' basketball coach at East Three Secondary School.
She said her journey into coaching began around 2008 when a friend needed her help chaperoning. It was a chance for her to hang out with the kids outside of the classroom setting — and she loved the experience..
"I see the kids a lot in the building. But it was really nice to get out of the school, make connections with the kids. Some of the students that maybe struggle academically — you really get to see a different side of them," Parkes said.
"You get to see them shine. I just fell in love with it."
Parkes seen from behind, speaking with the boys basketball team she coaches in Inuvik. She says it's more than just coaching — Parkes offers guidance, leadership and a safe place for the kids. (Submitted by Stephanie Parkes)For the last six or seven years, she's stuck with the same group of kids, who are now in Grade 12.
"It's been a journey for sure," she said. "A lot goes into coaching."
That includes five days a week in the gym, a lot of effort fundraising and travelling with the kids to Yellowknife.
"There's a lot to juggle," Parkes said. "It's time away from your own family. And my family has always been super supportive of me working outside of the house and chaperoning."
The time commitment, she said, pays off.
"We've had a pretty consistent team through the years. The kids are super dedicated," Parkes said.
"When you hear from teenagers that they appreciate you, and the things that you've done for their life, it kind of ..Inuvik Drum Youth of the Week: Noah Cormier
Our Youth of the Week is Noah Cormier, seen here with RKV Bladesmith Rory Voudrach. Noah has been participating in an on-the-land school program with his father, learning traditional survival methods. After watching others working with an ulu, Noah decided he wanted one himself and has been operating a lemonade stand and collecting bottles for the past several months to save up. He finally got his blade at the Christmas Craft Fair Nov. 25 to 27. Photo courtesy of Kimberlly Walters
Beaufort Delta Schools kill bullying with kindness
When it comes to standing up to bullying, Beaufort Delta District Education Council takes an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Superintendent Devin Roberts listed 11 different programs active across the district, both in nurturing safe environments and addressing bullying when it happens. Among the programs he cited were the school district’s Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and the “Walk Away, Ignore, Talk it Out and Seek Help” (WITS) programs.
“GSAs provide a safe, supportive environment for students of diverse genders and sexualities to meet, discuss sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and form a community. GSAs also welcome straight, cisgender ally youth,” he said. “The WITS Programs bring together schools, families and communities to create responsive environments that help elementary school children deal with conflict and peer victimization, such as discrimination and bullying.
“(A third program,) LEADS challenges students to become leaders in their community. It encourages understanding of different perspectives by using five problem-solving strategies: Look and Listen, Explore Points of View, Act, Did it Work? and Seek Help.”
Getting feedback from student councils and assemblies, Roberts said all BDDEC schools have a Safe and Caring School Committee, designed to ensure schools have healthy programming and were positive spaces for everyone inside them. BDDEC also commits to safe school plans that report, document and respond to incidents of bullying. Individual schools identify specific issues to target strategies, though Roberts noted preventing bullying is a community-wide effort.
Consequentially, the school district uses its programming to target the entire learning community to promote healthy relationships, as well as teach students proactive incident reporting skills and safe intervention tactics, as well as conflict resolution.
As part of the effort to promote a safe and healthy culture, two schools are going the extra distance in the lead-up to Pink Shirt Day, which is Feb. 22. Moose Kerr School in Aklavik will have an Acts of Kindness and wisdom week staying Feb. 27 to promote kindness among students. Meanwhile, an Random Act of Kindness month is already underway at East Three Secondary school.
Programming is administered with a holistic approach in mind. Roberts noted three healthy relationship programs were directly oriented towards stopping bullying before it starts, including the Fourth R Program, which uses a thematic approach to reduce aggressive behaviours in youth and substance abuse. A second program, the WiseGuyz program, targets teenagers and helps guide them through the chaotic world of dating.
“Importantly, many of these adolescent risk behaviours overlap because they occur in the context of relationships,” ..