INUVIK
Liz Adams likes the simple life.

After 38 years in Inuvik and more than 20 years spent in the school system, classroom assistant Liz Adams is retiring and leaving the community. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

After more than 20 years spent in the town's school system, she is now retiring and leaving the community.

She came to Inuvik in 1979, following her late husband's job opportunities.

Arriving in a February, she remembers her first impression of Inuvik to be "frigidly cold."

"I really had no idea what I was coming to. I was pleasantly surprised, not by the cold, but by the people. I really felt welcomed."

Adams loves small towns, and in fact Inuvik is larger than her home across the Atlantic of Crondall, England. Adams immigrated to Canada at age 25 with her husband, starting in New Brunswick but soon moving to Whitehorse and then Inuvik.

Soon after arriving, Adams got a job working at the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School.

She started with substitute teaching and then got hired as a classroom assistant.

Adams worked there until 1983, when she left to raise her second child, returning back to the elementary school in 1997 and staying until just last week.

"Much busier, much more happening, more people," she said about the old days of Inuvik.

"The Forces were still here. Lots of activities, more stores, even a ladies' and men's store. More restaurants."

But all that traffic isn't her thing.

"I think I like it better now," said Adams. "I love the laid-back lifestyle. I like being in a small place."

Every day at the school is a different experience, she said.

"You never quite know what to expect. It's an exciting place to be. When those little lightbulbs go up for the kids, when they learn a new concept, when they learn to tie their shoes. That is so gratifying."

These says, East Three School does a lot more on-the-land and cultural programs than the schools used to, she said.

A highlight of her career is seeing grown-ups in the store who still remember her from school.

"You take your job home," said Adams.

"This isn't the sort of place where you work and you can forget people, the kids you've met."

Principal Deborah Reid has known Adams for only a few years but said she will be missed.

"She provides a very calming effect to the kids and I think they really gravitate to her," said Reid. "They like her personality."

Adams brought a sense of caring to the school and students enjoyed working with her, she continued.

"I know that she'll be a huge loss for us," said Reid. "We're happy for her but sad for us."

Outside of work, Adams enjoys reading, talking to her family and baking. She hopes to do a lot of the latter for her children and grandchildren during retirement.

Adams plans to move closer to her family in Edmonton, staying a safe distance from the hubbub of the big city of course. She plans to do some volunteering but also looks forward to sleeping in.

Though she likes the quiet, Adams hopes Inuvik's economic situation improves.

"I don't know if it's realistic, but I would hope that there's a new gas field, because living here is so expensive," she said. "I can't afford to live here when I retire. I'd love to see some more employment for people. I'd love to see Inuvik Works come back, that was such a cool program."

She would also like to see an addictions treatment centre.

"For the school, (I would like to see it) just continue doing what they're doing because they're doing a good job. I would like to see the children attending more. That would make such a difference, it really would."lable in town, even if it just meant a more knowledgeable help desk based in Yellowknife.

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