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RANKIN INLET - Sarah Ayaruak's kindergarten class seemed remarkably quiet for their very first day at school. With their mouths stuffed full of a healthy apple snack, the 27 Inuktitut-stream students were too busy to chat.

Leo Ussak School Grade 1 student Nipguaqsi Innukshuk shows off her self-portrait during her first day back at school in Rankin Inlet last Friday. - Karen Mackenzie/NNSL photo

The apples, an annual welcome-back tradition for all the students at Leo Ussak School in Rankin Inlet, also serve as a friendly reminder to pick nutritious choices for school year lunches.

"It really makes a difference," said Ayaruak, who is also co-principal of the school. "I always tell the parents how important it is for students to be well-rested and to make sure they have a healthy breakfast too, because it's the most important meal of the day."

The breakfast program for students will continue in the home economics room at Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik this year, and will wrap up every morning around 8:15 a.m. to get students to class on time, she added.

Just down the hall from Ayaruak's class, the Inuktitut-stream Grade 1 group seemed like old veterans back for their second year at Leo Ussak.

With only nine students, it's a much smaller class, and teacher Tuurngaq Shouldice said she was very happy to see such a big group entering the Inuktitut stream in kindergarten this year.

"I think people are really taking the language seriously for maybe the first time, that Inuktitut is going to be the workplace language," she said. "There are so many jobs now that you have to be fluent in both languages, so let's go, let's learn our language. It's part of our culture, it's part of who we are."

RCMP officers were out on the roads early Friday morning as well.

"We're just making sure traffic was slow and the kids were getting to school safely and reminding everyone that the kids are out and about, so to watch their driving a bit more carefully," said Sgt. Peter Pilgrim.