RANKIN INLET - A group of 14 students from Bishop Allen Academy in Toronto, Ont., helped bring the magic of books to a number of Rankin Inlet students as part of an exchange program this past month.

Maani Ulujuk high school (MUI) teacher Wendy Rutledge said every school in Nunavut has been twinned as part of a government initiative.

She said MUI students have had an ongoing relationship with students at their twin school for the past 18 months.

"They have a Nunavut Club at Bishop Allen Academy and, when they learned about the literacy issues being dealt with in Nunavut, they decided to hold a huge book drive," said Rutledge.

"They sent 30 boxes of books to us.

"Some of the books went to Whale Cove and the rest were divided between the three schools in Rankin."

The program is funded through the YMCA Youth Exchange which requires a community-involvement project be done by participating students.

Rutledge said because the Toronto youth had focused on literacy, the MUI students brought that aspect into their community project.

She said the two groups of students teamed up to do a variety show at the elementary school that included throat singing, storytelling, popular songs, a science demonstration and magic tricks.

"They also broke into smaller groups and wrote little books with the elementary kids.

"The younger kids really enjoyed the activities and spending time with the older students for a day."

Grade 12 student Andrea Carbone found out about the exchange program completely by accident.

Carbone was looking for a chaplaincy meeting in the Toronto school's library when she found the Nunavut Club.

"I decided to stay for the meeting and ended up joining the club," said Carbone.

"When they were picking students for the program, they asked us to write a page about ourselves and why we would want to come to Rankin and I was lucky enough to be selected."

Carbone lists visiting the elders cabin as one of the many highlights of her visit to Rankin.

And, in almost the same way she stumbled upon the trip to begin with, fate decided to play a role in her experience once again.

"Our bus got stuck along the way and, at first, I thought that was horrible, but then we got off the bus and started to have a lot of fun playing in the snow.

"We also saw a caribou, which was very exciting for a group of students from Toronto.

"When we had the chance to take part in some drum dancing later, I couldn't believe how heavy the drum gets after you've been playing it for a while."

Karen Tutanuak is one of the 14 Grade 12 students from MUI who will leave for Toronto on May 10, and she's eagerly counting down the days to her trip.

She got involved with the program to meet new friends and see Toronto for the first time.

"There's a lot of differences between the Toronto students and us, but we all got along really well," said Tutanuak.

"I knew they'd be surprised, but I didn't realize just how surprised they'd be by life in Rankin.

"We all got a kick out of how many clothes they wore while they were here.

"You might say they were a little overdressed."

The Rankin and Toronto students were surprised to realize they both shared an affinity for music from the '80s and '90s.

Carbone said most of the conversation among the teens centred on the activities taking place during the week and Inuit culture.

She said there was also a lot of talk about their different lifestyles.

"This is an incredibly slower pace than what I'm used to in Toronto and I just love it," said Carbone.

"But, the biggest difference for me was the curfew time.

"The curfew here is so late when we go and hang out together.

"When I'm home, the only nights I'm allowed out past 9 p.m. during the week is if I'm at dance lessons, so I enjoyed having a little more freedom and a lot less worries."

For Tutanuak, shopping and more shopping tops her list of things to do while in Toronto.

She's also looking forward to seeing her new friends' school and getting a taste of city life.

"It will be nice to see how I might live when I go to university or college.

"I'd also like to see the CN Tower, especially where you walk over the glass and see down below you, and visit MuchMusic."