Putting Earth Day on ice
Students cap month of Earthly learning with afternoon fun
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, May 7, 2014
REPULSE BAY
Students at Tusarvik School capped a month of Earth Day learning with an afternoon of activities on the sea ice in Repulse Bay, April 25.
The afternoon was organized by vice-principal Julia MacPherson and phys-ed teacher Bill Kennedy.
A tent was erected on the ice for students to warm themselves with cookies and a cup of hot chocolate before heading back to the fun of broomball, tug of war, parachute games, big ball soccer, sliding and fishing.
MacPherson said the event was a great success, with students, staff and visiting RCMP officers having all kinds of fun together.
She said as much fun as the sea-ice activities were, they were only one part of Tusarvik's focus on Earth Day.
"I encouraged the teachers to talk about Earth Day and do some Earth Day lessons in their classes during the better part of the month of April," said MacPherson.
"Then, on Tuesday, April 22, we held our regular monthly student assembly.
"The students had been working on an Earth Day song and music, which the kids in the younger grades sang during the assembly.
"There was also a slide-show presentation and a bit of talk on keeping Nunavut clean, and then we completed our Earth Day activities on the sea ice during the afternoon of April 25."
MacPherson said she was pleased with the student turnout for the afternoon activities on the ice.
She said the kids showed great school spirit for it being so close to the end of the year for Tusarvik.
"We finish school in Repulse Bay on June 6, so we only have about a month of school remaining.
"Our attendance has been slowly dwindling with only a few weeks left to go, especially with the nice weather we've had lately.
"Hunting is also coming up and a lot of families are out on the land.
"But we did have a nice turnout with the RCMP, some elders in the community, and a number of parents joining us on the ice for a great afternoon of healthy and fun activities."
