In the spring of 1994, after fourteen years teaching grades 2 to Junior High, I was asked by Pat Netser and Simone Clark, the then administrators of Leo Ussak Elementary school, to become the school's 'Computer Teacher'. I was both thrilled and daunted. The school had few resources for teaching about Information Technology and I had big dreams for our students. What to do? The answer, I felt, lay in our community.
Leo Ussak Elementary School is a true community-based school. Since its inception in 1988 and under our founder, the late Simon Ford, our school has sought to include the community at every opportunity. It is, in fact, a common sight to see Inuit elders in our school passing on their traditional knowledge. Mr. Ford, an Inuk himself, instilled in his staff a respect for Inuit culture and the Inuktitut language and believed strongly that the school should have access to appropriate Information Technology.
Leo Ussak Elementary School offers educational programming in English and Inuktitut to 360 students from Kindergarten to grade 6. Programmes are offered to students with special needs with support from a special needs teacher and five assistants. The school strives to serve the needs of these children, some of whom come from the local children's group home, with a wide variety of approaches. Our school has eight Inuit teachers who are graduates from the Nunavut Teacher Education Programme which is offered by Nunavut Arctic College and McGill University.
Rankin Inlet is a community of approximately 2,000 people. About 80% of the population is Inuit, the remainder come from Southern Canada. Canada Employment estimates the unemployment rate across the Northwest Territories at 23%. Communities outside of Yellowknife, the Territorial capital, like Rankin Inlet typically have even higher unemployment. The Inuit suicide rate is three times the Canadian national average. Substance abuse is a serious problem in the community. The community has recently experienced a 'boom', and, therefore, cannot easily be compared to other northern communities. The community now has an active business circle consisting of over one hundred small and large businesses. Increasingly, these businesses are Inuit-owned. One of the major players to emerge has been the Sakku Investments Corporation, which is charged with the responsibility of investing Nunavut Land Claims money on behalf of the Inuit beneficiaries in the Kivalliq region. They are our major "Partner in Education" in the creation of Igalaaq, the Rankin Inlet Community Access Centre, in Leo Ussak Elementary School.
Rankin Inlet is remote, located on the west coast of Hudson Bay in the Canadian Arctic, approximately 1,000 km due north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The only viable transportation link to our community is by air, which is very expensive. The 'modern' community was established during the mid-1950s when the North Rankin Nickel Mine began operations. Inuit were employed in all facets of the mine operation. The mine ran from 1957 until 1962 when the rich nickel-copper ore deposits ran out. The community suffered greatly from the mine closure, yet survived to grow as a major government centre in the Northwest Territories. This early history of the community is responsible for establishing the wage based economy and the spirit of entrepreneurship and cooperation that exists in Rankin Inlet to this day.
How it All Started In 1994, Sakku Investments Corporation, announced a plan to create an Internet Service Provider (ISP), for the community of Rankin Inlet. At that time informal discussions were held with possible community stakeholders about the potential of this service for our community. I then expressed concern about how this technology could be made publicly available to provide training and access to those who did not have the prerequisite skills or those who did not have the financial resources to pay for Internet access. I initiated a plan that was further developed with the school staff, administration and Community Education Council to create a Community Access Centre in the computer room in Leo Ussak Elementary School. In 1995, I wrote a grant proposal and was successful in obtaining a grant from the CAP, Community Access Programme, under Industry Canada. This funding helped create a link from Leo Ussak School to Sakku Arctic's ISP.
The CAP grant from Industry Canada provided approximately $14,000 which funded the creation of a Local Area Network (LAN), that was connected to Sakku Arctic Technologies (ISP). While the CAP grant made it possible for the Leo Ussak School Computer room to be connected to the Internet, it did not provide any funding for upgrading the outdated computers that were in the school, or to pay for the connectivity costs involved with the school being on the Internet.
Things changed with the arrival of Ron Dewar, CEO for the Sakku Investments Corporation. Mr. Dewar realized that Internet connectivity could be an economic lifeline to this geographically isolated part of Canada. An area with very high unemployment as well as very high costs of doing business. Mr. Dewar made it clear that Sakku was with us as a "Partner in Education" with a long term vision. Sakku provided the presentation hardware and software, an Agfa colour scanner, and perhaps most importantly, an agreement that Sakku would support the CAC, Community Access Centre, by underwriting the costs associated with using their ISP. This meant that students and staff could have access to the Internet during the day and the community of Rankin Inlet could do so at night and on weekends when Igalaaq was open to the public.
As computer programme coordinator, I went to then principal, Simone Clark, to ask our Community Education Council, if I could approach other community stakeholders to become "Partners in Education" and help us create the Community Access Centre. I recall the look of wonder and amazement on the face of elder Lucien Taparti and other CEC members as I demonstrated a virtual tour of the Louvre museum in Paris on the Internet. As Mr Taparti said through a translator, 'I want my grandchildren to have the same as children in Toronto!' The community gave their approval without hesitation or condition. I then went about canvassing local stakeholders, holding a series of "Internet Cafes" for the general public, leading staff training sessions for government personnel, fellow educators, and running a computer club for preschoolers on Saturday afternoons. Support began to snowball.
On another front, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Keewatin Divisional Board of Education were in serious financial deficit. This situation was forcing teacher cutbacks and job losses. Despite progress, it looked as if the position of computer programme coordinator would be terminated. However, through the support of the school administration, staff, parents, the media and our Partners in Education, the position was saved!
After a year and a half of developing community partnerships and organizing, the Igalaaq volunteer team proudly welcomed everyone to the grand opening of the Northwest Territories' very first Community Access Centre on Saturday November 2nd at 2:00 PM in the gym and computer room of Leo Ussak Elementary School. The centre became known as Igalaaq, which means window in Inuktitut. It was to be a technological 'window to the world' for the citizens of Rankin Inlet. Igalaaq gives all citizens of Rankin Inlet access to current computer technology and the Internet. While Igalaaq was initially funded by a grant from Industry Canada, the centre has been made possible through the generous support of Sakku Arctic Technologies and many other "Partners in Education" from the business community. It is staffed by students from Maani Ulujuk High School who are partnered with one of thirty adult volunteers from the community. Igalaaq is open on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7:00 until 9:00 PM and on Sundays from 2:00 until 4:00 PM. A special computer club for preschoolers is held on Saturdays from 2:00 until 4:00 PM.
Over 250 people attended the grand opening of Igalaaq. NWT Air and Sakku Arctic Technologies presented new computers to the Igalaaq team. Over $2,200 was raised in a raffle. A giant Igalaaq cake was cut and a sign for the Igalaaq Centre was unveiled. Over 100 people signed up for their own e-mail accounts, bringing the total accounts to now over 400. Nearly 300 such centres hope to open across Canada this year." The centre was packed to capacity on its first day of operation and it hasn't slowed down since!" according to Igalaaq volunteers Vinnie Karetak and Maggie Putulik.
Growing to Meet the Needs of the Community To date over $100,000 has been raised to equip Igalaaq. Fifty-two business and government stakeholders, as well as 61 individuals have become "Partners in Education" with Leo Ussak Elementary School. Leo Ussak Elementary School and Sakku Investments Corporation were recipients of the Royal Bank National Partners in Education Award by the Conference Board of Canada. With over 35 volunteers being part of the Access Centre team, Igalaaq can be used by anyone in the community on evenings or weekends regardless of technical experience or financial resources. To date Igalaaq has seen more than 3,000 visits in less than a year, all without theft, vandalism or disturbance to the computer lab or the school facility. Today, more than 400 people in Rankin Inlet have established e-mail accounts through Igalaaq. This represents over 20% of Rankin Inlet's entire population. This in a community where many were born in skin tents and igloos!
Our Partners in Education, now have a higher, more positive profile among students, educators, parents, administrators, politicians and other community stakeholders. Partners are also recognized on our school's web site.
Our students at Leo Ussak Elementary School now have access to state of the art information technology tools. Students use Information Technology to record and share information about Inuit culture and modern Arctic life with the rest of the world. Students receive feedback from the world that their culture is something to be valued and cherished. Students attendance has improved. Student interest in learning has increased. Students from grades 3 to grade 6 have their own e-mail accounts. Students from grades 3 to 6 are producing their own web pages. Students are volunteering and some have been hired to work at Igalaaq for wages. Every student from Kindergarten to grade 6 has regular classes in Information Technology. Students are given an introduction to object-oriented programming with MicroWorlds LOGO. Students are introduced to simple robotics with LEGO/DACTA Control Lab system hardware and software. Students are creating multimedia projects with Hyperstudio. All students have access to the Internet in every classroom throughout the school.
We have created the very first Web site of any school in the Canadian Arctic, indeed, the school's Web site has been showcased to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and on another occasion to First Ladies Aline Chrétien and Hillary Clinton. The Igalaaq Access Centre and the Leo Ussak Elementary school programme in Information have been recognized in Netguide, Disney, Yahoo, Internet Life and National Geographic magazines, the Ottawa Citizen and Globe and Mail newspapers, The Internet Kids and Family Yellow Pages, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Television documentary, a video by the Missouri Botanical Gardens, "Dotto On Data", Radio Canada International and "Morningside" radio programs.
Igalaaq now offers a wide variety of Information Technology tools and resources to students, teachers and indeed the entire community of Rankin Inlet. Among the special materials available at Igalaaq are: 20 Macintosh multimedia computers, all with CD-ROM drives on a high-speed Ethernet network. All computers have colour monitors. There are two workstations which have high quality 17" professional monitors, scanners, two ZIP drives and a digital camera. These stations are used for intensive graphics work. The high speed Ethernet network has been extended to the entire school which means that all students and staff can access the Hewlett-Packard 5MP LaserJet Printer and can access our Internet Service Provider, Sakku Arctic Technologies (www.arctic.ca) with the equivalent speed of a T1 line or 2 megabits per second and 56k per second speed connection from our ISP to the rest of the world. Thanks to our many "Partners in Education", Leo Ussak Elementary School students and staff can now have access to more than sixty computers school wide. In addition to the hardware, we have a wide array of software resources that allows us to help our students acquire many important Information Technology skills as well as develop critical thinking skills.
phone: (+1 867) 645-3256
fax: (+1 867) 645-2333