BAKER LAKE/REPULSE BAY - Students and staff members in Repulse Bay and Baker Lake led the way in laughs and learning to celebrate Nunavut's Literacy Week earlier this month.

The week officially ran from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2.

Anoee Nanuak and Orlando Kalluk, right, team up for the Read for 15 challenge during Literacy Week activities in Baker Lake earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Craig Vincent

English teacher Jennifer Perry of Tusarvik School in Repulse said the Literacy Week activities were a big hit at the school.

Tusarvik held the Read for 15 challenge every day and capped the week off with a flurry of activities.

"We split the students into groups for the different activities, with kindergarten to Grade 3 in one, then Grade 4 to Grade 6 and Grade 7 to Grade 12," said Perry.

"A lot of the students said we should hold activities every Friday because they enjoy Scrabble, Boggle and other literacy games so much."

Perry said Literacy Week activities create a different environment for the teachers, as well.

She said teachers enjoy taking part in the more student-centred activities.

"We ensure the students in, for example, grades 7 to 12 are divided into five groups, so everyone gets to interact with both younger and older students.

"The high school teachers enjoy interacting with the junior students a lot more than they usually get to do.

"It's not a teaching day, as such, with lessons, but more of a hands-on approach to literacy activities."

In Baker, Literacy Week activities were highlighted by senior students from Jonah Amitnaaq Secondary School (JASS) reading with the younger kids at Rachael Arngnammaktiq Elementary School.

Both the senior and elementary students took turns reading and being read to during the program.

Students and staff at JASS also celebrated Literacy Week by engaging in a number of funfilled literacy activities and competitions, including an Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? question of the day.

Teacher Denise Cooper said the school also held a LOL (laugh out loud) joke contest, the Read for 15 buddy program and a tonguetwisting contest.

"The tonguetwisting contest had one student represent each homeroom class, and they competed against each other by reciting a tongue twister to win a pizza party for their room," said Cooper.

"We capped things off with a Nunavut literacy bookmarkdesign contest on Oct. 2. "Our winning LOL jokes came from Grade 6 students Kelsey Attungala (What did the Inuk do when he first saw pizza? He said, "Who miriaq on my bannock?") and Vincent Taipana (Did you hear about the man who lost his whole left side? He's all right now!).

"Our tongue twister used in the competition was a dandy, as it went: Betty Blaker baked buttery, black bannock, but Buddy Baker better butter blended, baked, blue, boiled, broiled blubber before bed."