KIVALLIQ
Three young science lovers from the Kivalliq put in a strong showing on a national stage earlier this month.

Jordin Takkiruq of Gjoa Haven joins Arviat's William Campbell, from left, Chesterfield Inlet's Delilah Issaluk and Rankin Inlet's Chelsea Sammurtok to proudly display the Nunavut flag at the CanadaWide Science Fair in Fredericton, N.B., earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Jennith Peart

The Kivalliq sent three students and two teachers to the 54th annual CanadaWide Science Fair in Fredericton, N.B., from May 10 to 17.

The students spent the week showcasing their projects and engaging in fun and educational activities.

Representing the Kivalliq were Grade 10 student Chelsea Sammurtok of Rankin Inlet, with her project, Baby's Got Your Back (the affects of traditional and storebought carriers on posture), Grade 10 student Delilah Issaluk of Chesterfield Inlet with her work on Inuit Shades (comparing the ability of traditional Inuit snow goggles to protect eyes and block light to commercial sunglasses) and Grade 7 student William Campbell of Arviat, who earned a bronze medal for his project, What's the Drift? Where's the Drift (the use of miniature snow fences to protect small areas during a blizzard).

Accompanying the students were Jennith Peart of Baker Lake and Juanita Balhuizen of Arviat.

Peart said she was amazed by the level of science some of the students at the national fair were doing.

She said the Kivalliq students really held their own at the event with solid projects.

"Obviously, some of the kids there are working with university professors and have access to lab equipment I've never seen," said Peart.

"The fair was really well run, the kids had an amazing time, made many new friends and enjoyed the various activities offered.

"I was with Delilah and Chelsea, and they had no problems with anything being done in the workshops.

"In fact, they were ahead of some other groups."

Peart said it was a proud moment when Campbell won a bronze medal for his project.

She said about 30 projects at the junior level received bronze medals.

"William's category was the environment and his project on snow fences was quite strong.

"His enthusiasm really shone through and he's an extremely well-spoken student, so he did a really good job of explaining what he did on his project.

"An organizer I talked to said they really liked how our students picked practical projects that were related to things happening in their communities.

"They all had a Northern applicability to them and that was perceived as a neat way of looking for a solution to a real-life problem."

Campbell said he got the idea for doing a project on snow fences while walking to school and watching people shovelling the snow away from their vehicles and equipment, and out of their porches.

He said he began thinking about a simple and efficient way to prevent that from happening.

"I worked on the project for three months," said the student.

"I was very surprised to make it all the way to the national fair because I didn't think I would even make it past our local school fair.

"When I first arrived at the Canada-wide fair, the first thing that struck me was how many projects there were.

"I was thinking, like, holy cow, there's lot of really good projects here."

Campbell said he was a bit nervous about his time alone with the judges.

But he said the first thing they did was gave him a stress-relief ball and that did help to make him less nervous.

"They wanted to know about the project and the conclusion I came to, which was that the angled fences worked the best.

"The award I received for the bronze medal was a scholarship to Western University, if I decide to go there when I graduate.

"This whole experience has got me a lot more into science and, hopefully, I'll do even better next year.

"I enjoyed, pretty much, everything about it."

Issaluk said when she first arrived at the fair, all she could think was how awesome it all was.

She said many of the more than 500 projects at the national event were cool and interesting.

"The activities they had for us were pretty cool too," said Issaluk.

"I picked going on a tour to a chocolate factory.

"It was pretty neat getting to see how they make it and the chocolate was really, really good.

"I had a great time and I hope I do well enough to go again next year."

Issaluk said the science fair is a big deal at Victor Sammurtok School.

She said many of the students take a lot of pride in how well the school does every year.

"Everyone works very hard on their project because they want our school to keep doing well in science.

"Being selected to go the Canada-Wide Science Fair this year and keeping our school's streak going made me feel very proud.

"We all feel good about how successful we've been at our regional fair, and we want that to continue.

"The national fair was a great experience and I really hope to do it go again."