KUGAARUK/PELLY BAY
Attendance is up and students are having fun at school so Michael Bartley is confident he is leaving Kugaaruk School on a high note.
Kugaaruk School principal Michael Bartley will be leaving the community and his position at the end of the school year. - photo courtesy of Michael Bartley |
Bartley is moving from the Kitikmeot community at the end of the school year after three years spent as principal of the school and six years in the North. He previously worked one year each in Clyde River and Cambridge Bay, then as vice-principal in Pangnirtung. Bartley does not know what the future holds.
"I absolutely love it here. I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing but something always lands on my lap," he said.
He added he will likely go see his son in Ottawa when he leaves the North.
Bartley noted he had a lot of "other nice occupations" before going into teaching. He was a firefighter, worked in the military and as a branch manager for an arts company around the Caribbean. He was also the director for a high-tech company in Ottawa.
Bartley's sister, who was a teacher, always wanted him to join the profession. A personal tragedy was the catalyst for Bartley to begin the new career.
His sister died in a car accident while driving to see his brother-in-law. Bartley said he passed by his sister's truck with the body still inside and asked the firefighters if he could say 'Goodbye' to his sister before they extricated her body from the vehicle.
"While I was in there, I was just saying bye to her and I thought, 'I am going to go be a teacher,'" said Bartley. "So, I went, made the big change and I came up here. I run things a little bit differently. I try to make things really happy and positive."
When he arrived at the school, Bartley said student attendance was in the upper 60 per cent range, went up to 85 per cent and is now in the upper 70 per cent range.
"I bring four things for everyone to do and that's come to school every day, be nice to others, always try your best and have fun - enjoy life. I try to make it a positive, happy, fun time," he said.
He also brought monthly assemblies and performances to the school.
Fraser Robb has been at the school for six years, the last three with Bartley. The student support teacher, who worked with three different principals while in the Kitikmeot community, said Bartley is a positive person who brought a lot of energy to the school.
"He worked out a really good rapport with students, partly because of the energy he brings," said Robb.
"I've really enjoyed personally working with him as well. He is very positive and he works hard to make sure we have the resources we need to do our job."
He said Bartley was quite innovative, facilitating getting the school a new school bus and running the breakfast program more efficiently.
