Pelly Bay (Dec 01/03) - Eva Ittimangnak sat in the auditorium at Kugaardjuq school, anxiously waiting to hear her son's name and see him walk across the brightly lit stage.

The presence of video cameras in the room, government officials making speeches, and over 100 visitors to the community did not take her attention away from the real star of the evening.

"I was focusing on my son," she said.

Derek Ittimangnak, 23, was one of the first four graduates in the history of Kugaaruk, and Kugaardjuq school.

The other graduates were Lucy Immingark, Colin Inukshaq, and Juliane Nasalik.

Derek was the first of Eva's six children to graduate from high school.

"I was so emotional," Eva said in a phone interview from her home last week. "I was so happy and proud. I don't really know how to describe it."

Although Derek has not decided what he is going to do next, his mom is confident he will be successful at whatever education program or career he chooses.

Until the addition was built onto the school, it could accommodate students up to Grade 9. That forced Kugaaruk students to relocate to Yellowknife at a great expense in order to graduate from high school.

Renovations have allowed them to accommodate students up to Grade 12.

"I'm very proud of the students. It was a long time coming," said Vince Ningark. "I envy them for graduating from the community. The family was all there. For me, I graduated from Sir John Franklin in Yellowknife, and only three of my family members attended. "It was great, but it would have been nice to see my whole family there," he said.