Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Nov 10/99) - A delegation of four Alaittuq high school students from Rankin Inlet learned a lot about tolerance and acceptance recently when they travelled to London, Ontario.

The students were at Sir Frederick Banting secondary school to take part in the Delegates Attaining Raw Experience (DARE) program.

Kelly Clark, Jody Roach, Samantha Owlijoot and Ashley Dean were accompanied by teacher Rachel Stuy on their journey.

DARE is a school-based, student-run, leadership development program.

It focuses on promoting school spirit, unity, tolerance and acceptance of others, and helping young people begin to realize and develop their leadership potential and skills.

"The big thing was we learned not to judge people by what they look like," stresses Clark.

"Everyone was who they really are. Material objects and whatnot weren't important.

"You could tell they put a lot of thought into the event. It was a really good experience."

The program was created at Sir Frederick Banting in 1989 and has continued to thrive and expand.

Hopeful students had to apply, consisting of writing a letter of interest, providing a reference letter and going through an interview, before the final selection was made.

"Everyone was so excited about us going there," says Dean.

"They asked lots of questions about Nunavut and were really interested in us, but they treated us just the same as everybody else there."

The four students are hopeful they can introduce the program to Rankin this March.

The high school paid for their way to London and the Kivalliq Inuit Association has already donated money towards the development of a Rankin program.

"A program like this makes you want to get more students involved with school activities and build better school spirit," says Roach.

"I really enjoyed the group activities and meeting new people," adds Owlijoot.

"I'd recommend this to other students."

DARE involves students on three different levels: the planning committee creates the program with a staff advisor; skill builders are group leaders during the program; and the delegates who actually participate in the program.

Stuy says it would be a wonderful opportunity to host such an event Rankin.

"We'd like to bring in two students from each of the other hamlets in the region," says Stuy.

"DARE has made a huge impact on the students at Banting secondary school in London.

"Hopefully, we can make it a success in Rankin and Nunavut too."