Spring has sprung in Pond!

Hi family and friends, We hope you are all enjoying the beginnings of summer wherever you find yourselves. Spring has sprung in pond! It is DEFINITELY much warmer and sunnier than when we arrived just a mere few weeks ago. The following is a recap of the past week and all of the things we have gotten up to: The mornings this week were spent at Ulaajuk, the elementary school here in Pond Inlet, which teaches students from kindergarten to grade 6. In the past, QHO has had the opportunity to teach in the elementary school on various occasions. This year, we wanted to have the chance to implement some of our health curriculum with some of the older classes. Until grade 4, school is taught in Inuktitut so we spent our time with the grade 5’s and 6’s.While at the elementary school we mainly taught two lessons: One about physical fitness and the other related to substances and how to make smart decisions over the summer. We were wowed by the enthusiasm and participation of these younger students. Students especially loved getting the chance to play some new games such as Huckle Buckle and Pinny Tag. We hope the Ulaajuk students had as much fun this week as we did. Our final morning at Ulaajuk was “Cultural Day”, an annual event for the students that consists of traditional Inuit games and activities. Some of our favourites were: traditional Inuit drum dance, harpoon throwing, string games, square dancing and of course... Eating bannock!  After a farewell to Ulaajuk, we spent our afternoons at the high school. This week our focus was on sexual health. Some topics included: puberty, anatomy, consent, STI’s and the importance of safe sex. As always, we were impressed with the maturity of our students as well as their eager participation. Popular activities among the students were sorting the 10 steps to safe condom use, consent “True or False” and then finally a Jeopardy duel between the girls and boys. Afterschool activities this week included our usual sports and bracelet making and a special one this week - Boys’ Night. The theme of our Boys’ Night included sports, sports and more sports! The boys battled it out in hockey, basketball and other contests before enjoying some homemade cookies. We especially loved hearing some Nunavut rap- some sung by young people from Pond Inlet! This weekend the sun was out and strong in Pond- Some exploration by the sea ice even resulted in us getting a little burnt. The first big crack in the sea ice has formed across the sound, which allowed for us to touch the salty Arctic Ocean! The beauty of Pond Inlet at this time of year is truly magical! Love from the arctic,Erin & KelseyP.s. We may have spoken too soon with "Spring has Sprung"... Blizzards this week in Pond!