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Annual pancake breakfast promotes Inuktitut literacy

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, March 11, 2009

CHESTERFIELD INLET - More than 100 people were in flapjack heaven this past month as Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet hosted its seventh annual pancake breakfast.

Teacher Glen Brocklebank said the annual event is aimed at attracting community members into the school.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Donna and Rebecca Sammurtok, right, were on juice patrol during the annual pancake breakfast at Victor Sammurtok school in Chesterfield Inlet this past month. - photo courtesy of Glen Brocklebank

He said this year's gathering was done in association with Inuktitut Week to help promote literacy and encourage the use of Inuktitut.

"After everyone enjoyed their pancake breakfast, we watched a series of traditional videos on seal hunting and various other topics," said Brocklebank.

"We also had a few elders stay around and spend some time interacting with the students and visitors at the school.

"Later in the afternoon we held our annual broomball tournament, during which the students got to compete for spirit points and that's a big deal at our school.

"Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time throughout the day."

The cooking chores were handled by school staff members, with a couple of members of the local RCMP detachment and clergy also helping out.

The food for the breakfast was donated by the local Northern and Co-op stores, as well as the Chesterfield Inlet Development Corp.

Brocklebank said about 90 students and 70 community members started off their day with a hearty breakfast at the school.

"Many of the people who came for breakfast also walked around the school to look at the kids' artwork and stuff like that.

"Having people in the community check out what's going on at the school, and see some of the projects the students are involved in, is the big advantage of holding this event.

"The pancake breakfast is one event at our school that has really maintained its popularity over the years.

"It's a fun day the students enjoy every year, between the breakfast and the broomball, and it's nice to see so many people from the community in the school all at once."