From November 24–28, 2025, Professor Yuly Billig, Director of the Carleton Math Enrichment Centre, spent a week at Attagoyuk High School in Pangnirtung, an Inuit community in Nunavut located just 45 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle. With a population of about 1,500, Pangnirtung is a vibrant and close-knit hamlet where the school plays a central role in community life. Professor Billig visited as part of a Northern Outreach initiative generously funded by the Tutte Institute for Mathematics and Computing (CSE).
Throughout the week, he led “Math Week” at Attagoyuk High School, offering three to four classes per day for students in Grades 6–12.
These sessions combined accessible explanations with hands-on activities designed to spark curiosity and confidence in mathematics. Topics ranged from the mathematics of cryptography—explored both in English and in Inuktitut — and binary numbers to the geometry of regular polyhedra, the algebra behind the Rubik’s cube, and the topology-inspired puzzle known as Conway’s Rational Tangle.
Students enthusiastically participated in all activities: writing and decoding secret messages in two languages, learning to compute in binary, discovering winning strategies for the game of Nim, and building paper models of Platonic solids. Older students learned how algebraic ideas can guide the solution of the Rubik’s cube, and the week concluded with the lively Rational Tangle “rope dance”, where students practiced untangling knots using the mathematical ideas behind the puzzle.
Professor Billig noted that many students demonstrated strong aptitude in mathematics and science. Equally impressive was the dedication of the teaching staff at Attagoyuk High School. The school boasts an exceptional group of caring and dedicated teachers, as well as an array of after-school programs that keep the building open well into the evenings and on weekends so students can participate in sports and community activities.
The visit was a resounding success, and plans are already underway for continued collaboration between Attagoyuk High School and the School of Mathematics and Statistics. The experience highlighted the tremendous enthusiasm and talent of northern students and strengthened connections that will support future learning opportunities in Nunavut.
