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Program gets part of $1 million prize Nunavut Literacy Council initiative one winner of inaugural Arctic Inspiration PrizeJeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, January 21, 2013
The prize is shared among four winners, including three who are from Nunavut. The program, run by the Nunavut Literacy Council, was one of the winners, and was recognized at the 8th ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver on Dec. 13. The $300,000 prize will enable the literacy council to work with a number of community groups to help them embed or include literacy into their non-formal, culturally-based programs, said Kim Crockatt, the council's executive director. "It's really thrilling to be acknowledged for our research," said Crockatt. "Because we're not an academic institution, it's sometimes difficult to let people know the research we do is credible. This is sort of a nod in that direction." Non-formal, culturally-based programs are those, such as land trips or sewing, which typically occur outside of the classroom. As an example of how the program works, during a sewing program run by elders for young women, elders would set up a portfolio, documenting patterns and speaking the Inuit language, explained Crockatt. She said the young women would learn new terminology and work as a team - improving their reading, writing, language and communication skills. "We found it's actually not that intuitive a process to embed literacy into culturally-based programs," said Crockatt. "Through our research, we've learned a lot of the tricks of the trade and come up with some ideas that really work." The S. and A. Inspiration Foundation funds the Arctic Inspiration Prize. The winners' projects address "pressing issues" residents of the North face, according to the foundation. Other winners include an initiative from the Arctic Food Network and a project to publish the book "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit - What Inuit have always known to be true."
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