Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many of my colleagues have noticed the Territorial Bookworm display in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly. If you take the time to examine this worm closely, you will notice that its segments come from communities across the Northwest Territories. The Territorial Bookworm display recognizes Education Week, which is being celebrated in the NWT from March 27th to March 31st. This is a time set aside for all of us in the NWT to recognize our achievements in education.
This year's theme is "Literacy, Language and Learning." The Bookworm Challenge celebrates all three aspects of this theme. The Territorial Bookworm Challenge went out in January when the Department of Education, Culture and Employment sent a kit on how to construct a bookworm to every school, college campus, library, career and learning centre in the Northwest Territories. The rules of the challenge were simple. Each time a story was read or shared with another person, a segment listing the name of the book, the author and the residents involved was added to the bookworm growing in that community.
By demonstrating the significant role literacy, language and learning plays in our daily lives, the challenge symbolizes the strength we acquire each time we read, write or share our stories. As you can see in the display, it was a huge success. More than 20 communities have taken part and over 6,000 books have been read. The annual two-day Peter Gzowski Golf Tournament for Literacy is also taking place this week. Known simply as the PGls, these tournaments, which feature national and local celebrities, have raised millions of dollars for literacy programs across Canada. This year's PGI will take place Tuesday and Wednesday in Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, the importance of education cannot be overstated. Each day, educators across the NWT face and meet the challenge of preparing our young people to become productive citizens of our northern society. In this week set aside to celebrate education, I would like to pay tribute to all the dedicated people working in our education system, as well as the many hard-working students who make the job worthwhile.