Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (June 21/02) - Their positions will be filled, but their contributions won't soon be forgotten.

Three Deh Cho teachers -- Donna Dahm, Carnie Williams and Leo Ehrenberg -- who have each taught within the region for at least six years have decided to pack their bags for good this summer.

For Dahm, the choice was made with a lot of deliberation and reflection.

"It's hard to leave," she said with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I definitely will come back to visit and that certainly makes it easier."

Dahm, always pleasant and gentle, taught in one-room school houses in Jean Marie River for four years and most recently in Kakisa for the past two years.

The rewards have been many, she said.

"Oh, I'd have to say it was the students ... watching them grow up and change and develop new skills," said Dahm, who will be teaching in Grimshaw, Ala., in the fall.

"And all the wonderful people I've met. In every community there are people who will help you."

Nolan Swartzentruber, director of the Deh Cho Divisional Board of Education, said Dahm has been "an outstanding employee ... and we're going to miss her a great deal."

After eight years as the program support specialist at Bompas elementary school, Carnie Williams is bound for Fond du Lac, a remote community in northern Saskatchewan.

There, she will be the life skills teacher with an astounding corps of five special needs assistants for the eight students. Williams said she liked working with the staff in Fort Simpson and enjoyed the cultural programming such as bush camps and the Slavey word of the week. Seeing the students be successful was also gratifying, she added.

Many extra hours

Swartzentruber said Williams has been a very dedicated employee, who put in many extra hours at work.

She took on many extracurricular roles and was instrumental in developing programs for special needs students, he noted.

Leo Ehrenberg, who taught at Echo Dene school for seven years, is heading to Yellowknife. The cultural aspects of life in Fort Liard is among what he'll treasure most, he said. Ernest and Helena Timbre, in particular, taught him some traditional skills.

"I guess Fort Liard itself is a special place, the scenery, the surroundings," he said.

Nor will he soon forget the potential of the kids, the web page projects they created together, and fundraising for a trip to Edmonton one year.

Ehrenberg was always supportive in the school and he initiated several computer projects that have "put us on the map in one sense," Swartzentruber said.