Nome Elementary Celebrates Inuit Day, Students Lead Cultural Program
On November 10, 2025, Nome Elementary School hosted an Inuit Day celebration that brought more than 40 students, family members, and community leaders together to mark Inuit culture and identity. The event underscored growing efforts by school leaders to make cultural teaching a sustained part of the school year, a shift that carries implications for curriculum, community engagement, and local education policy.
Nome Elementary School’s gym filled with students and community members on November 10, 2025 for an Inuit Day observance established by the Inuit Circumpolar Council to honor Inuit culture. More than 40 students lined the gym floor for a student drum ensemble that used blue plastic buckets as percussion instruments, a hands on demonstration of cultural practice led by Richard Sargent, the band director at Nome Beltz Middle High School.
The program included remarks from local role models and cultural leaders, with appearances by Miss Arctic Native Brotherhood Brooke Anungazuk and elder and Iñupiaq actress Nutaaq Simmonds, who is originally from Utqiagvik. School leaders invited families and community members to attend, framing the event as an opportunity for young people to see cultural practice and local leadership in real time.
Principal Michelle Carton, who moved to Nome from Utqiagvik earlier in the year, organized the event as part of a broader effort to center culture inside the school calendar rather than treating it as an occasional addition. School officials described the celebration as both a public acknowledgement of tradition and a classroom resource intended to reinforce student identity, belonging, and engagement.
For residents of the North Slope Borough and surrounding communities, the event matters for several practical reasons. Bringing elders and local role models into the school exposes students to cultural knowledge and leadership pathways that can reinforce language, values, and intergenerational ties. It also signals a curricular shift that may affect budgeting, staff training, and partnerships between the district and local cultural organizations. Sustained cultural programming can influence student attendance and performance by strengthening ties between home and school, and it can shape community expectations for how schools serve Indigenous students.
Institutionally, the celebration points to decisions school administrators and the district will face if they choose to expand similar programming. Those decisions include how to allocate time for cultural instruction during the academic year, how to compensate cultural instructors and community partners, and how to document outcomes for students. Local organizations such as the Arctic Native Brotherhood and outreach from circumpolar institutions could play a role in formalizing lessons and supporting elder involvement.
The November 10 event also highlighted the importance of visible role models for youth. By showcasing a range of community voices, the program reinforced the idea that cultural leadership is both present and accessible within the region. As schools across the state consider ways to better serve Indigenous students, Nome Elementary’s approach offers a local example of integrating cultural celebration into regular school life, with implications for policy discussions at school board and community meetings in the months ahead.
