Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Parents and teachers play an important part in encouraging our children to attend and stay in school because we, as parents, know getting an education today will play an important part in today's society.
Mr. Speaker, recently, the Inuvik Regional Science Fair was held on February 25th in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. I would like to report that students from Mangilaluk School in Tuktoyaktuk did very well at the regional science fair. Of important note is the senior category, Ryland Anderson and Ryan Walker won first place in their project called "Meatless for a Month." Maybe this project had to do with the decline of the caribou herd in the Beaufort-Delta region. These two students became vegetarians for one
month, which is rare in our culture because we need the wild meat to survive in today's society. Mr. Walker and Mr. Anderson will be travelling to a regional competition in Truro, Nova Scotia, in May of this year.
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Mr. Speaker, Bradley Felix and Morris Nogasak, Jr., won third place in the seniors category for their science project by inventing an ultra-simple hovercraft, which, I understand, was of interest to all students.
And finally, Allan Hillier and James Pokiak won first place in the juniors category for their project "Sticky Science."
Mr. Speaker, I might add that I'm an uncle to two of the students and it makes me proud to see these students excel and do well in school.
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, teachers also play an important role in our education system. I am proud to say that Mary Kathleen Connelly, principal of Inualthuyak School in Sachs Harbour, has won the Outstanding Principal Award. This award recognizes the extraordinary contributions of principals who have made a measurable difference in the lives of their students. Mr. Speaker, during our pre-budget consultations in Sachs Harbour, I understand that Ms. Sandy Lee of Range Lake was a student of Ms. Mary Kathleen Connelly.
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Oh, how time flies.
In closing, once again I would like to congratulate all the students, their parents and teachers to keep up the good work. And to the students: Stay in school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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