Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NUNAVUT
New faces will sit behind the principal's desks at four schools this September as one principal is having a baby, two are pursuing other interests and a third is leaving for personal reasons.

Jennifer Borden, the current principal at Qarmartalik School in Resolute, will head south for one year of maternity leave on June 11 as she is expecting her second child in August. She was a teacher at the school for five years, then a principal for the last three years. Borden said she is unsure if she will be back.

"I'm not finished with the North yet. I love the North. I definitely want to continue my career somewhere here," she said. "The community has been so welcoming and the environment has been a wonderful place to work. I think I'm going to miss that sort of small community-type feel we've had here."

Borden said she is excited to be going home to Newfoundland but the excitement is bittersweet.

"Eight years here is a long while and I'm going to definitely miss it. We've owned our own home here," she said.

Heading to south Baffin Island, Sam Pudlat School principal David Webber is leaving after three years as principal of the Cape Dorset elementary school. The school will also lose its volunteer librarian, Webber's wife Frances.

"I'm looking at a couple of other possibilities," said David. "I'm not ready to retire yet. I enjoy doing what I do. I'm now looking for a new adventure."

The children and the people of Cape Dorset are what he said he will miss the most.

"They've been absolutely very, very welcoming to myself, my wife and we have a six-year-old grandson with us," said David. "They've made us feel very welcomed in their community and that's what I'll miss."

To the west, in Iglulik, Ataguttaaluk Elementary School principal Jeela Allurut said she will take another position at the school but would not elaborate more as she is applying for jobs. She was the school's principal for two years.

Working with the staff and students, meeting everyone's needs and keeping the community informed is what she'll miss the most, said Allurut.

"It's been fun. It's been challenging but it's been fun. It's a learning experience," she said.

In Hall Beach, Michael Westley, the principal at Arnaqjuaq School, said he's headed to Ontario for personal reasons. He added he might return to the North, depending on his personal situation.

The fondest memories Westley said he has are of the people he got to know.

"It's going to be difficult leaving. You've developed friendships and that kind of thing," he said. "It doesn't mean I won't return to Hall Beach maybe some day but I'm not entirely sure whether it's going to come about that way. It depends on what positions are available if and when I do re-apply."

Westley taught one year at the school before becoming its principal.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.