Miss-Delectable
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Belleville Intelligencer - Ontario, CA
Erin Burrell is excited about experiencing the Far North for the first time in her life - even if it means eating raw fish and caribou.
"I want to learn the culture in the Arctic and what they do there every day," the deaf student said through an interpreter. "I want to experience that for myself and I know it will be a very interesting time."
The 17-year-old Burrell is among 10 students and four adults from Sir James Whitney School for the deaf that left today for Nunavik in the Inuit region of northern Quebec for a week-long exchange program.
The students - from Grades 9 to 11 - were selected for the exchange program organized by high school teacher Jonathan Nicoll.
Nicoll said YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada is a program run by the YMCA of Greater Toronto to promote cross-cultural awareness and a sense of belonging among Canadian youth ages 12 to 17. Travel costs are funded by the Canadian government.
"I did the application on behalf of the school and it was approved. I asked to be matched with the Nunavik group," he said.
And that is because a group of deaf Inuit students visited Sir James Whitney in the spring of 2007 for a week and established friendships with students here.
Nicoll said the students had better be prepared for much colder temperatures.
"It's still winter there with a high of -2 C and a low of -20 C. That will be a big shock for them," he said.
Linda Ritchey, Sir James Whitney principal, knows first hand what her students will experience on their visit there. She worked with deaf students in Nunavik for several years before coming to teach at Sir James Whitney two years ago.
Ritchey also accompanied her students on the bus ride to Montreal and then a four-hour flight aboard Air Inuit to Umiujaq for the week-long trip. She said the Whitney group will spend the full week in Umiujaq, a remote community of 400 Inuit located more than 1,200 kilometres north of Montreal on the eastern side of Hudson's Bay.
"Ten deaf students from various communities in Nunavik are flying to Umijaq to meet us there and together we'll participate in a variety of cultural experiences," she said.
There will be a full itinerary for students, said Ritchey.
They will spend a full day at a camp with an Inuit family, travel by snowmobile and do lots of ice fishing.
Students will learn to make cultural artifacts, including the Ulu, the half-moon shaped knife used by Inuit.
"They will meet with many elders in the community to learn about the history of the Inuit as well as present day life of Inuit," Ritchey said. "We'll also be learning Inuit dance and we'll do a sports competition with Inuit sports events."
Ritchey said a lot of her students are interested in sampling Inuit food - which is generally raw fish and caribou - and experiencing how the Inuit live, hunt and fish.
"They will have lots of time to do these things because the days are long over there. There will be daylight until 11 p.m. or midnight," she said.
Inuit students will travel to Sir James Whitney next fall to complete the exchange program.
"They will also be here for a week and we have to fundraise to provide them with an exciting program when they are here," said Ritchey.
Erin Burrell is excited about experiencing the Far North for the first time in her life - even if it means eating raw fish and caribou.
"I want to learn the culture in the Arctic and what they do there every day," the deaf student said through an interpreter. "I want to experience that for myself and I know it will be a very interesting time."
The 17-year-old Burrell is among 10 students and four adults from Sir James Whitney School for the deaf that left today for Nunavik in the Inuit region of northern Quebec for a week-long exchange program.
The students - from Grades 9 to 11 - were selected for the exchange program organized by high school teacher Jonathan Nicoll.
Nicoll said YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada is a program run by the YMCA of Greater Toronto to promote cross-cultural awareness and a sense of belonging among Canadian youth ages 12 to 17. Travel costs are funded by the Canadian government.
"I did the application on behalf of the school and it was approved. I asked to be matched with the Nunavik group," he said.
And that is because a group of deaf Inuit students visited Sir James Whitney in the spring of 2007 for a week and established friendships with students here.
Nicoll said the students had better be prepared for much colder temperatures.
"It's still winter there with a high of -2 C and a low of -20 C. That will be a big shock for them," he said.
Linda Ritchey, Sir James Whitney principal, knows first hand what her students will experience on their visit there. She worked with deaf students in Nunavik for several years before coming to teach at Sir James Whitney two years ago.
Ritchey also accompanied her students on the bus ride to Montreal and then a four-hour flight aboard Air Inuit to Umiujaq for the week-long trip. She said the Whitney group will spend the full week in Umiujaq, a remote community of 400 Inuit located more than 1,200 kilometres north of Montreal on the eastern side of Hudson's Bay.
"Ten deaf students from various communities in Nunavik are flying to Umijaq to meet us there and together we'll participate in a variety of cultural experiences," she said.
There will be a full itinerary for students, said Ritchey.
They will spend a full day at a camp with an Inuit family, travel by snowmobile and do lots of ice fishing.
Students will learn to make cultural artifacts, including the Ulu, the half-moon shaped knife used by Inuit.
"They will meet with many elders in the community to learn about the history of the Inuit as well as present day life of Inuit," Ritchey said. "We'll also be learning Inuit dance and we'll do a sports competition with Inuit sports events."
Ritchey said a lot of her students are interested in sampling Inuit food - which is generally raw fish and caribou - and experiencing how the Inuit live, hunt and fish.
"They will have lots of time to do these things because the days are long over there. There will be daylight until 11 p.m. or midnight," she said.
Inuit students will travel to Sir James Whitney next fall to complete the exchange program.
"They will also be here for a week and we have to fundraise to provide them with an exciting program when they are here," said Ritchey.