TSIIGEHTCHIC/ARCTIC RED RIVER
Tara Zuk says one of the best parts of her day at Chief Paul Niditchie School is watching her students become her teachers.

Tara Zuk, teacher at Chief Paul Niditchie School in Tsiigehtchic, is learning traditional skills and how to speak Gwich'in along with students. - photo courtesy of Tara Zuk

Zuk teaches grades 4 to 6, as well as science, art and health to students in grades 7 to 9. In the evening, she attends an adult Gwich'in language class, which she then practises with her students at school.

Zuk said speaking Gwich'in in class allows everyone to polish their language skills while giving students a chance to teach her new words and phrases - and correct her mistakes.

"They love the fact that I'm trying to learn and I make lots of mistakes. They like being the teacher for once," she said. "It's really good, it empowers them."

Zuk, who travelled to Tsiigehtchic from Liverpool, England, has been a teacher for the past 20 years.

Zuk's husband is Canadian and she first came to Canada in 2002 to cover a maternity leave for a teacher at a school in Hartley Bay, B.C.

She returned to England until 2007 when she moved back to Hartley Bay. In 2011, Zuk returned to England to spend time with her family before deciding to come back to Canada and experience life in the North.

"I love small communities so I was really looking for a teaching position that was going to be in one of the more remote, adventurous areas," she said.

Since moving to Tsiigehtchic at the end of August, Zuk said she has been learning alongside her students during on-the-land activities with the school, such as learning trapping skills, how to clean fish and cook on an open fire and how to look after a wood stove.

Students are also learning how to identify animal tracks and recipes for medicines made from spruce sap.

"They're the kind of activities we do with the students that I've really enjoyed," she said.

Zuk said participating in traditional activities and learning to speak Gwich'in with her students has created a two-way learning environment, which she said is having a positive impact on both herself and her students.

"They're helping me to learn," she said.

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