Rebuilding Kiilinik

DENISE RIDEOUT

Three and a half years after disaster struck Kiilinik High School in Cambridge Bay, staff and students once again have a real high school to call their own.

The school burned to the ground in August 1998 after teenagers started a fire under the building. And since then, teachers have been holding classes in tiny yellow portable classrooms.

But a rebuilt Kiilinik High School opened for classes just two months ago, on Feb. 19. The grey, dome-shaped building sits near the spot of the original Kiilinik High School.

“It was hard,” recalls principal, Judy Cherniak. “There were three or four of us in town at the time of the fire. It was in the summer and many teachers were out of town. But I was here.”

When students and teachers headed back to school in September 1998, things were challenging, to say the least. Old government-owned warehouses and two portables, located near the burned down school, were transformed into classrooms.

The buildings were far apart, and students had to bundle up and walk from one to another when they changed classes. In addition, they were cramped, old and poorly heated.

Now, with classrooms, science labs, a gymnasium, a wood workshop and teachers’ offices under one roof again, gone are the days of trekking through snow to get from class to class.

And for teacher Julia Ogina, it means she can now use her sled solely for sliding.

“I had to carry my supplies from classroom to classroom. I had six or seven canvas bags filled with all the resources and materials I needed. I’d put them on a sled and pull them from portable to portable,” says Ogina, who teaches culture and language.

“We tried to keep the feeling of a school alive,” says principal Cherniak. “Sometimes it was challenging.”

“A bit of a Disneyland”

The school, with its high ceilings and classrooms with windows for walls, has an open, inviting feel to it. “It feels a lot bigger than it actually is,” says Cherniak, looking up toward the ceiling.

On this Friday morning, a group of students are lounging around on a stage, taking a quick break between classes. The stage, located in the lobby, is what Cherniak calls the “viewing area.” It’s a fitting name, given that the 10 windows that line the wall above it give sports fans a prime view into the gymnasium.

The gym is an accomplishment in itself.

Initially, the construction budget didn’t include a gymnasium. But the community jumped into action, holding every fundraising event imaginable to pay for the gym. Senior high teacher Patti Bligh took out her scissors and clippers and cut residents’ hair at $5 a pop — a surefire way to raise money considering the community doesn’t have any hair salons.

After two years of fundraising, Cambridge Bay was able to chip in $70,000 toward the gym’s construction. It’s now a school gym by day, a community gym by night.

Back in the lobby, across form the viewing area, is the culture and language classroom where four students are sewing kamiit. The room’s walls — glass panels that run from floor to ceiling — allow passersby to watch the students at their handiwork.

“Each classroom has it’s own shape, which is kind of fun,” Cherniak says. “The use of the glass, besides giving the classes an open feeling, gives teachers an opportunity to keep an eye on students who are out here,” she says, standing outside one of the classrooms looking in.

Further down the hall, an entire section is devoted to giving students hands-on skills in art, cooking and wood working. Cooking classes are held in a large room with two kitchens complete with ovens, fridges and cupboards full of baking utensils.

Next door, in the workshop, a new course on stained glass is in the works. Jack Kupeuna, 17, solders two pieces of rose-colored glass. The shop, cluttered with tool boxes, drills, saws and various mechanical gadgets, smells like freshly sawed wood.

It’s a shop teacher’s paradise. Before moving into the new school, the shop classes were run out of a small garage. “This is about the size of a four-door garage,” brags Dan Wilmot, the shop teacher. “This whole school is a bit of a Disneyland,” he jokes, “with its new gym, new shop and new classrooms.”

Kiilinik High also boasts two computer labs, a science lab with a greenhouse and a hangout area for senior high students, located in a small section on the second floor.

While it’s got the fun-shaped classrooms and extra amenities, the school is lacking something critical — a guidance counsellor. The Nunavut government’s budget for the school didn’t allow for extras, like a counsellor.

“We needed a counsellor desperately, but that would mean taking away a teacher,” principal Cherniak says. “We try to use community resources as much as possible.” As she speaks, a woman in a classroom in front of her teaches students about anger management. The hamlet’s community wellness program applied for funding to bring the anger management instructor to Cambridge Bay for five days, and the school chipped in the rest of the cost. While it doesn’t make up for a full-time guidance counselor, it’s a help, Cherniak says.

The lunch bell rings at noon and students mill about the locker area. For Grade 11 student Jason Akoluk, the lockers are the best part of the new school. Lisa Bacheillier, who’s graduating this year, says there’s a fun atmosphere in the new building. The students have their very own bulletin board, where messages such as “People be cool, come to my house after school” are posted.

“This place is more spread out,” Bacheillier says. “The other classrooms were small and didn’t feel very comfortable. This is very big and bright.”