Helenenorth

 Hello all Another exciting week in the land of ice and snow.  Actually, it has really milded up.  The snow has melted so fast.  Actually it is a big issue for the north--usually this is the season for hunting and fishing, where the locals put up all the food they need for the year.  But with the melting ice and snow, it is too dangerous for them to go out on the land. Yesterday, the policemen came and created the "sugar shack".  They brought 2 coleman stoves, and 2 huge soup pots.  Each pot was filled with real maple syrup, flown in from the south.  After an hour, the boiled syrup was ladled out on a shelf of snow--and there was the maple candy!!  Yum.  I have seen pictures of this, but it was so great to really participate in it. A big breakthrough with 3 of my students this week.  They were able to read a 3 page story, discuss it, and answer questions, all by themselves!  It was a grade 3/4 level--amazing!!  I am so hap...

 Hello all Lots has happened this month including this really neat cross country ski trip, headed up by a secondary teacher and an elementary teacher from our school.  They took 22 high school aged kids, from 3 communities on a 60 k cross  country ski trip. They packed everything with them--tents, food, water and heat.  Right in the middle of the trip, there was a dandy spring blizzard with lots of snow and winds of over 60 k an hour, but they all made it safely to Aupaluk in the 3 days that they had planned.  Of  course, they had a great back up with ski doos, sat phones, and trained personal.  What a great opportunity for all.  The teachers said it was super, and kids really came through as a team. We also had a full on Inuit Culture week that included eating "country food", traditional seal, caribou, ptarmigan, Arctic Char, and other game, igloo building, stories from the elders, and Inuit games.  It was very interesting experiencing the w...

 Hello Seven weeks to go--but who is counting!! Last week we had an amazing dog race that came through our community.  It hasn't taken place for the last 3 years, so it was quite the event.  Six teams took part.  All the children went to the Kangirsuk finishing line to cheer on the teams.  It was amazing to see this!!  Dogs were well cared for--a team of vets were on the trip, on snowmobiles.  One elderly dog just couldn't keep up, so he was put into a sled along with two other dogs who were injured. Our class is continuing to have fun.   We did muffins yesterday, and yesterday afternoon, we mixed up the soil and planted the beans that had sprouted in the window.   That was a really neat activity--they had to predict how many days it would take for the beans to sprout.  Some were right and some were wrong--but still fun. They also are reading a child friendly version of the Gingerbread Man.  If we can get it up to performa...