Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, this week is NWT Education Week here in the Northwest Territories. It’s a great opportunity for us to recognize and highlight all the hard work that is being done by teachers, mentors and volunteers in the support of our children throughout the Northwest Territories. To that end, I’d like to talk a little bit about the recent Yellowknife and territorial learning fairs that have been held throughout the Northwest Territories over the last couple of months.
On February 11, 2011, I had the honour of judging at the Yellowknife Learning Fair which was held here at Mildred Hall School. I was blown away at the high quality of projects being presented, both from an historical and a science perspective. There were historical projects on a wide range of topics including Francois Paulette and Richard Van Camp, historical events such as The Lost Patrol and Vimy
Ridge, historical places such as The Wildlife Cafe and the CANOL Trail.
In addition, there was also a wide variety of science experiments ranging from the lifecycles of icebergs to the effects of oil spills on animals and birds. All of the projects were exceptional, Mr. Speaker.
This past weekend the award winning presentations at the community level came together in Yellowknife for the territorial competition. Although not a judge, I did go see a number of presentations and had an opportunity to talk to a lot of students. Once again, the projects were all excellent. Everyone I talked to about the projects and the event were thrilled by the experience. Students participating in these events should be very, very proud of all of their hard work and accomplishments. Their hard work does not go unnoticed, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, children are our future. Events like these help them build knowledge, skills and abilities that help them succeed throughout their lives. I would like to take this opportunity to applaud all of the teachers, mentors and volunteers who have helped make events like the local and territorial learning fairs possible. Their dedication and contributions are key to the success of these types of events and to our students and the development of children throughout the Northwest Territories.
So thank you very much to each and every one of you. Your contributions are appreciated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.