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Final destination Donald and Simone Clark retire after 32 years of teaching
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 26, 2013
RANKIN INLET
Thirty-two years ago, Simone and Donald Clark flew into Rankin Inlet for the first time. As a female voice announced their final descent, the couple peered out the plane window to find nothing but tundra and lakes.
After 32 years of moulding young lives, Simone and Donald Clark are retiring from teaching. The couple said they are thankful to the community for coming out to their retirement party June 14. They raised $5,000 at the event, which will be donated to the RCMP Christmas Food Hamper Fund and the Nunavut Literacy Council. - Miranda Scotland/NNSL photo |
"We looked at each other and said 'Oh my god, what have we done?'" said Simone, adding they realized later passengers on the other side of the plane had a view of the town.
The high school sweethearts moved to Rankin Inlet from Nova Scotia in July of 1981 to teach. They were 23 years old.
At the time the hamlet was still part of the Northwest Territories and had a population of less than 1,000 people.
Prior to moving North, Simone had taught in her home province for two years while Donald had recently graduated.
Jobs were few and far between at the time so when Donald came across an ad about teaching in Canada's Arctic, he brought the idea to Simone.
She figured they could survive anywhere for a year and they applied.
The hiring process started with an information night in Halifax, which the couple attended with about 150 other people.
The organizers started the session by saying, "If there is anything you hear during this hour and a half that you think you couldn't tolerate, don't come to the interview tomorrow," recalled Simone.
They then proceeded to describe to the crowd the "worst-case" scenario. They said they could end up in communities with run down staff housing, stretches of 24-hour darkness and populations of only a couple hundred people.
The organizers also prepared them for situations such as seeing someone cutting open a seal in their front yard.
Simone said she remembers about 30 people walking out during the presentation.
"We kept saying to each other 'OK, nothing too dramatic yet. We're still good for tomorrow'. But it was a very good way of doing things because it introduced people to the reality of what they were going to see when they went to these communities."
The couple did the interview together the following day and soon received an offer to teach in Rankin Inlet.
"We got out the book and figured out, 'Where is Rankin Inlet? What does it have? Sure, we'll go,'" said Simone.
Simone said she won't soon forget their first walk around their new town. She remembers coming across a little boy who obviously knew they were the hamlet's latest arrivals.
"He looked up at us and said, 'How long you staying here?' That broke my heart. I said to Donald, 'These kids must be so used to (teachers) coming and going'."
But more than three decades later the couple is still in Rankin. Donald said they've stayed because of the community's support and the students' appreciation. They've also enjoyed being involved in the many activities around town. Donald is especially fond of coaching sports, while Simone enjoyed working with student council and raising funds for various causes.
Both have also loved every minute of their career in education. They've kept it interesting by teaching different grade levels and working in administration.
But the couple is retiring this year. Simone said she and Donald are leaving while still loving their careers and that's what they wanted.
"We feel fortunate to have taught here," said Donald. "Sometimes I think, 'What if we didn't end up in Rankin?' Would we be sitting down talking to somebody else in another community? I'm glad it was Rankin. I wouldn't change it for anything."
The couple will be leaving the hamlet soon to spend time with Donald's mother in Nova Scotia. But with their children and grandchildren in Rankin, and another new addition to the family on its way, they will certainly be back.
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