Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the first time, teachers from across the NWT will be gathering to learn and share together at the ‘Our Students, Our North, Our Success’ educator’s conference in Yellowknife.

This three-day event has been organized by the NWT Teachers’ Association with assistance and support from all district education councils and authorities as well as schools across the NWT.

Northern educators are a very special group of people. Though schools within the Northwest Territories vary from region to region, in terms of size, grades taught, culture and languages spoken, educators deal with many of the same challenges and successes across the North, and this conference gives them the opportunity to discuss, share and learn together.

Major topic areas include a focus on K to 12 literacy, building children’s confidence, the use of technology in the classroom, and strategies for working with children with FASD. A highlight of the conference will be a discussion panel titled “Our Students, Our North, Our Success,” which will include representatives from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, the NWT Teachers’ Association, Education, Culture and Employment and a few well-known and respected northern principals.

This event will only be three days long, but it is the hope that our educators and schools will experience the benefits long afterwards, in new perspectives to teaching or new approaches to dealing with differentiated instruction of all students.

This conference is a very large event, Mr. Speaker, with over 800 participants. The NWTTA has worked long and hard with many different partners to make this event possible, and I would particularly like to recognize the work that they have done to make this an exciting learning opportunity for the northern educators.

Mr. Speaker, this year, Education Week happens to fall on the same week as the conference and we are choosing to celebrate the role of teachers through a reception on the evening of Monday, February 16th . Mr. Speaker, I hope that you and all

Members will be able to join me in celebrating the teachers that do so much in our communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.