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REPULSE BAY - Staff at Tusarvik school in Repulse Bay have been coming up with unique ways to involve the community and have a little fun while learning during this semester.

One of the unique approaches employed this school year was the Math and Munchies program, which combined tasty treats with fun-filled activities highlighting the role math plays in daily life.

Kyler Kabvitok gets to practise his addition and multiplication while playing a game of Snap with his dad, Robert Kabvitok, during a recent Math and Munchies gathering at Tusarvik school in Repulse Bay. - photo courtesy of Leonie Aissaoui

High school teacher Jacob (Jake) Roberts said he enjoyed being involved in the project, which his wife, Grade 6 teacher Maren Roberts, organized at Tusarvik.

He said the program brought students and adults together for a math game event.

"The project involved everything from basic adding games to problem-solving activities," said Jake.

"I was actually a blackjack dealer during the event to show both addition and probability at work.

"The project was a quasi-snack feast to get as much of the community involved as possible.

"Everything was aimed at raising awareness of the daily use of math."

Jake said the gathering did have an impact in showing students how math plays a large role in everyday activities in their lives. He said a number of activities were purposely selected to highlight things people do regularly.

"We tried to show them the role math plays in shopping, their daily time tables, and things they do both at work and at home.

"The staff did a good job of bringing together an array of activities to make people realize how much they use math every day, and how important it is for the kids to refresh their math skills on a daily basis."

Jake said there was a good turnout for the event.

He said a lot of parents, especially of elementary kids, took the time to have some fun and interact with their kids at school.

"We also had quite a few elders take part, which was great to see, as well as a number of hamlet employees.

"It was a very, very successful event, and it's always great to see that much interaction between the community and the school.

"In my opinion, it's a case of the more the better because there's not enough done with parent involvement in school these days.

"If the parents know what's going on at the school and get excited about being involved, that gets the students excited as well."