Iqaluit (Nov 29/04) - Mike Tulugak held up a thermal imaging camera and looked at his friends. He could see them clearly even though the lights were off in the classroom.

Mike Tulugak checked out the thermal imaging camera brought to Inuksuk high school by representatives of the Iqaluit firefighters and paramedics who talked to students on Career Day. - Kathleen Lippa/NNSL photo

"Be careful with that," urged Iqaluit fire Chief Cory Chegwyn, who was making a presentation to Inuksuk high school students. "Sometimes you can even see through people's clothes with it."

The camera was just one of many items Iqaluit firefighters and paramedics brought in to show students during Career Explorations Day, part of a busy Career Week in Iqaluit from Nov. 22-26.

Many businesses took part

Employers and employees from a variety of workplaces -- including the Nunavut Department of Corrections, Canadian North, the CBC, the nursing program at Nunavut Arctic College, the RCMP and the coroner's office -- made presentations to students at Inuksuk high school on Nov. 23.

Counsellor Sheila Levy said the school has been holding Career Week activities since at least 1996.

Levy said booths at career fairs are great, but "it's important for kids to hear from people in those jobs. The presentations are more than you can get from a piece of paper."

Dressed in red serge, RCMP Const. Ben Williams said presenters often have just as much fun as the students at these events.

"It's nice to be involved in the community, especially with young people," said Williams. "It brings us back to why we do what we do. It wasn't that long ago I was sitting there listening to a presentation like this."

The RCMP presentation, held in the school's library, featured an educational video and a dramatic re-creation of an officer responding to a call about an intoxicated person who gets testy when police arrive.

Const. Duane Flynn played the role of the belligerent drunk who Const. Chris Coles eventually has to use pepper spray to control. (The pepper spray is fake, but the scene got the students' attention.)

In another classroom, corrections officers Margaret Evaloakjuk and Dinos Tikivik with the Baffin Correction Centre brought in dozens of pictures to illustrate some of the activities they organize for inmates at the jail.

Jewelry gets attention

In another class, Lorna Alexander, Grade 8, and Lisa Ishulutak, Grade 11, were glued to Claude Roussel's slide show presentation about the Nunavut Arctic College Jewelery Studio and the art and crafts produced there.

During the week, Nunavut Arctic College instructors also talked to students about the programs they offer and Grade 9 students went out to workplaces with their parents or other relatives.

There was also a variety of Career Week workshops on Nov. 26 for the general public, including resume writing and interview techniques and how to apply for college, bank accounts or student financial assistance.