We love it here!

Week 1 in Salluit is done!It has been an eventful and fun week! Besides Steph being very sick for a few of days, the week went really well!Sunday was such a beautiful day, we decided to go on a hike up a mountain to the cross (a landmark in Salluit). On Monday, we spent the day at Ikusik, the high school (which actually encompasses grades 4 through 12). We introduced ourselves to all of the teachers, met with the principal, and talked with the lady who runs Youth Fusion. Youth Fusion is an awesome program in Salluit run by two women, who work hard year round to plan extracurricular activities, such as music lessons, healthy cooking classes, sports lessons, and even a talent show. We are hoping to collaborate with them for some of our extracurricular activities.Bernard, the principal at Ikusik School, gave us some great insight into the topics that he thought were most important for the students to learn. These include friendship, healthy relationships (platonic and romantic), and goal setting. He stressed the importance of getting students to see past the present moment – and that we should work with them to encourage them to find something that they are passionate about, set goals, and plan ways to work towards those goals.On Monday afternoon we also stopped by the Sappumivik Boy’s Rehabilitation Centre, where we introduced ourselves to the boys and met with Dean (who runs the centre) to create a QHO teaching schedule at the centre.In the evening, we went to the skating rink during public skating hours. Sticks aren’t allowed on the ice during that time, so we ended up playing a game of sockey (soc-key. noun. a cross between soccer and hockey, where one kicks a puck around with their skates in an attempt to score on the other team) with two boys from the community. We had so much fun!!!On Tuesday, we spent our day at Ikusik School. We went into every classroom to introduce ourselves to the students, as well as to get feedback from the teachers about which topics they would like us to teach in their classes. Everyone was very welcoming, and we got some great feedback!On Wednesday, we taught our first lesson! We taught our lesson, about the benefits of exercise, at the Rehabilitation Centre. The lesson included creating a poster about the physical and mental benefits of physical activity, which the boys will be able to hang up at the Fitness Centre in town!On Thursday we got to work on creating our weekly teaching schedule, and began making lesson plans. Unfortunately Steph was feeling very sick so we didn’t get to teach any lessons today.On Friday, Michelle taught a lesson about hygiene at the boy’s Rehabilitation Centre, and, with the help of a teacher, organized a Ping Pong tournament after school for the students at Ikusik School (Steph was still sick). There was a great turn out and they seemed to have a lot of fun! We hope to organize a Ping Pong tournament again in the next few weeks. After school, our neighbours Alana and Marlyn (two teachers at Ikusik School) invited us over for dinner. We had a great time chatting and eating pizza!