Repulse Bay (Oct 18/06) - Nunavut Literacy Week activities had a decidedly traditional flavour to them at Tusarvik school in Repulse Bay recently.

A tent was erected for two days on the school grounds, giving students the opportunity to visit elders Alice Nanorak and Cecilia Angotialuk to hear tales from the past told in Inuktitut.

Tusarvik principal Leonie Aissaoui says the students enjoy visiting the elders in the tent, and not just for the tasty hot chocolate and bannock that come along with the stories.

The tent has a distinctively traditional feel to it, with a lit qulliq and caribou skin on the floor for students to sit on.

"We enjoy bringing the elders to the tent for the students to hear stories about their culture and tradition," says Aissaoui.

"They hear stories about how important the qulliq was to the traditional style of life and about life on the land in general. The kids enjoy their time in the tent because of the stories, of course, and the fact it's something different from the usual classroom setting.

"We had a Grade 12 student who said we should be doing something like that more often, especially if it would help bring the older students and elders together."

Stories in the tent were not the only activities at Tusarvik to celebrate Literacy Week.

The school was a beehive of activity this past Friday, with students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 organizing and taking part in literacy games ranging from reading to playing bingo with letters and words.

The school was divided into two groups, with Kindergarten to Grade 6 sharing activities and Grade 7 to 12 comparing notes.

Aissaoui says the students would start in their home room and then move from room to room until each activity was completed.

"It was good to see the school so busy, with people moving from class to class all day. The younger kids went from 10:30 a.m. until the end of the school day, while the older students finished their activities in about half a day."