Rankin Inlet (May 04/05) - Staff members at the Kataujaq Day Care in Rankin Inlet had their efforts recognized by their host society during a special presentation this past week.

April 26 was proclaimed as Early Childhood Educators Appreciation Day by the Nunavut government, in conjunction with Education Week.

Society president Rod Hick said the non-profit Kataujaq Society's board and management decided to get in the spirit of the week and give deserved thanks and appreciation to their childhood educators at the day care.

He said the day-care staff continues to do an outstanding job in delivering arts-and-education programs that foster the children's creativity and intellectual development.

"We wanted to recognize the fact our workers put an awful lot of work into providing a healthy learning environment for the children at the day care," said Hick.

"We decided we could best recognize those efforts by presenting the workers with certificates of appreciation from the board."

Hick said an official form of recognition at the day care was chosen so the staff members could receive the certificates in their work environment.

He said the board members felt it was important to have the children present for the ceremony.

"Having the day-care children present added special meaning to the recognition the staff members received.

"I can't say the children totally understood the significance of everything behind the presentations, but they did appreciate the staff workers were being recognized for doing such a good job at the day care.

"It turned into a little bit of celebration with such a beautiful cake being baked for the occasion, but the main focus was to recognize their dedication, commitment and contributions to the Kataujaq Society's day care."