Many things can be made out of pipe cleaners, crayons, wiggly eyes and big red cups. A mad turkey, for example. An out-of-control squiggly spider.
Or maybe your own little elephant in the room. The Recreation and Parks Association of Nunavut wrapped up its 10 th annual summer day camp staff training session last week in Iqaluit, where trainees were asked to get into teams, turn on their imagination and make animals out of those supplies. Dawn Currie is the outgoing executive director of the Recreation and Parks Association of Nunavut.
Last week’s training session was her final event before her retirement June 26. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian) “It was about getting them to be creative,” said Dawn Currie, the association’s outgoing executive director. “But it’s also about challenging them, to build their confidence.
” The session started June 17 to June 20. About 85 young leaders aged 15 to 24 travelled to Iqaluit from 13 communities across Nunavut to take part in the session. They learned techniques and mastered skills they will need to run local summer day camps when they return to their home communities.
“I am kind of sad. The days have passed really fast, but we will go home [Friday] to run our programs,” said Qumangaapik Arnatsiaq, a recreation director in Igloolik who took part in the training. Since the start of the training program, more than 2,500 young people have become recreation leaders at the annual summer day camps organized for kids aged 5 to 12.
�.
