Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Friday, January 29, 2007

SACHS HARBOUR - Mary Kathleen Connolly is principal and a teacher at Inualthuyak school, which serves 27 students in Sachs Harbour.

While classroom sizes are comparatively small in the Banks Island community - the school's three teachers have an average of nine students each - she said working in Sachs provides an interesting challenge.

In fact, it can even mean more work, sometimes.

For instance, Connolly said the school's teachers must prepare multiple lesson plans, so students of different grades get different instructions.

As Inualthuyak offers courses from kindergarten to Grade 9, this means a variety of topics are covered, from ABCs to math to Canadian history, she said.

Another tough part of the job is getting teachers to remain in town.

After all, Connolly said, it can be difficult to convince people to commit to a hamlet of 150 people, which is north of Tuktoyaktuk and not accessible by road.

"You get a fairly high turnaround. Usually teachers stay only two years because of the isolation," she said.

Having served the community of Sachs Harbour as an educator for the better part of 34 years, Connolly recently won the Outstanding Principal Award, which is given by a Canadian organization called the Learning Partnership.

The annual award was given to 32 principals across the country.

(Aklavik principal Velma Illasiak won the prize last year.)

In an essay required by the contest, Connolly wrote that she came to the North in 1972, and, like many people, expected to stay only a year or two.

But as she has come to enjoy life in Sachs Harbour, Connolly said it would be nice if more teachers came to the community and perhaps decided to stay.