Blog

This January 27 is the 20th Anniversary of National Family Literacy Day. What started in 1999 as an ABC Life Literacy Canada awareness day is now celebrated in communities across the country. NWT communities are no different. We love to see all the fun activities groups, schools, families and others use to mark this day. The NWT Literacy Council has hosted pyjama parties, puppet shows, family… Read more.

Who knew that student filmmaking could be a vehicle to harness, empower, and celebrate reading, writing, and technology? Lucky for us at Kaw Tay Whee School, we have keen, dedicated teachers who embrace student interest, and recognize the potential of moving projects such as this on to the next level! That next level was an entry into the popular Dead North Film Festival, followed by an entry… Read more.

While Walk to Tuk has already begun for some people, you can still register a team until January 14, at www.nwtrpa.org. NWT families, individuals, schools, and workplaces are encouraged to form teams. Walk to Tuk teams try to collectively walk a total of 1,658 km between January 2 and February 28. That’s the distance along the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk. If walking isn’… Read more.

A great thing about the holiday season is all the time off work and school that we can spend with our loved ones. While family time is great, sometimes we find ourselves looking for ways to keep the kids entertained and busy while limiting TV and other screen time. Here are some suggestions to beat boredom over the holidays. Take a holiday light tour. Go for a walk (or drive, depending on how… Read more.

The NWT Recreation and Parks Association and Youth Centres Conference this past fall was full of information and inspiration that is helping to re-shape our Take a Break resource for parents and family literacy programs. Qaggiavuut! an organization that promotes Inuit culture and language use through the performing arts suggested using cultural activities to create a bridge between generations… Read more.

Our favourite Christmas gift to give or receive is a book. No surprise there. Here are our favourite books to give this holiday season. There’s something for Dad, for a three-year-old, and everyone else on your list. The Fox and My Boot, by Lana de Bastiani I am giving my mother The Fox and My Boot, by Lana de Bastiani, and illustrated by Janet Pacey. This book tells the true story of a… Read more.

The Speak English Café is part social club and part orientation to northern Canada. It’s certainly more than just a chance to practice English conversation skills. The Café is a well-attended Tuesday evening meet-up at the Public Library meeting room in Yellowknife. Community Connections coordinator, Karen Johnson, begins each session with a group activity, such as a game or video. Then… Read more.

A lot of talk happens around the issue of poverty, yet “we”, as a society, do not provide the supports necessary for people to move out of the poverty cycle.  Often poverty is described as living below a certain income level. However, the lived experience of poverty is more complex than that. There’s often a variety of other poverty indicators and circumstances that define and create poverty,… Read more.

For my Master’s in Special Education I wrote a northern children’s picture book called, The Fox and My Boot.  My University of Northern British Columbia graduate program allowed me to use the development of a children’s book as my final project. While the book itself was the product, months of research and writing went into producing the report to make my project ‘Master’s worthy’. Some of the… Read more.

Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning is creating an open access online publication. The first edition is set to be released in early 2019, with a focus on the topic of Elders. Since Elders are a most vital part of our community, Dechinta will honour them by publishing stories from students and Indigenous northerners that reflect and cherish our Elders. Dechinta will publish three pieces… Read more.