Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

I'm very pleased to be back. I really missed you guys.

---Laughter

Just kidding. Today, Mr. Speaker, I wish to acknowledge the achievements of two people from the Beaufort/Delta communities. We have two graduates of the Beaufort/Delta teacher education program who just graduated in the last two months. Ida Thrasher is from Aklavik and presently teaches in the Moose Kerr school, which is my alma mater. Ida entered the field-based program at the Inuvik centre a number of years ago and decided to continue her studies in the education field when the program was made available in the region. Ida was able to add diversity to her experience through her practicum sessions in Inuvik and in Tuktoyaktuk. She completed her studies on January 27, 1995 and plans on continuing her studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

The other graduate is Betty Elias who lives and teaches in Tuktoyaktuk. She began her studies through the field-based teacher education program also and attained the aboriginal language specialist certificate in 1992. She has worked as a classroom assistant and as a bilingual teacher at Mangilaluk School for a number of years. Her experience in these areas has proven very beneficial in her course of studies. Betty completed her studies on March 4, 1995.

I wish to offer my sincere congratulations to these two graduates and I wish all the best to all the other teacher education program students in the Beaufort Delta communities and throughout the Northwest Territories. Mahsi cho.

---Applause