Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Sep 04/98) - Though many students feign a dread about the prospect of going back to school, there was likely some excitement about seeing classmates who grew a bit distant during the summer.

For 10-year-old Chris Greenland, at SAM school, there's also gym class.

"I like gym and playing sports," he says outside SAMS and fresh from looking at a class list to see who will be in his Grade 5 home room this year.

"I like sleeping in too."

Along with Greenland is 8-year-old Logan Andrew who is taking a break from climbing atop some wood horses in front of the school.

"I was looking at the list (of classmates) to see what are the girls that are going to torture me," he says with a smile despite the seeming onset of unpleasantness.

Not surprisingly, he continues: "I like math."

SAMS classes started at 8:45 a.m. Aug. 31 with school getting out at 11:45. The afternoon was an administration day for teachers to prepare for the year ahead.

For high school students at Samuel Hearne Secondary school started Sept. 1 with the senior high students reporting to the gym to buy textbooks at 9 a.m. and junior high students picking up their books at 1 p.m.

Now the gruelling year starts.

"It's a family at the school. The teachers, kids and everybody, we're all one big happy family," says SAMS janitor Winston Moses as he carries a large bag of school supplies Aug. 30.

Because he left looking for school supplies until the day before school started, some items were sold out, sending him searching around Inuvik.

But with new running shoes for gym class and other supplies including a glue container with a tip piercing the Northern Store bag, Moses' two school-age children will be set.

"I went to Whitehorse and went to the park and played fun games," Moses' daughter Heather says.

Now the fun begins in class.