Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 27/05) - Almost 300 hundred students walked through the doors of the student employment centre this summer. That's 100 more than last year.

Jordee James-McQueen serves tea to Julia Clark. Both women are summer students working at Mary & Friends Tearoom in Old Town.

"High school students are still coming to us looking for odd jobs, such as lawn work," said Chloe Straw, senior summer employment officer.

And people are still calling to get help with house painting and child care at weddings, she said.

Not including these casual jobs, the employment centre posted and matched 99 jobs last year, and 76 this year.

"The numbers are actually higher than that, but many students don't call back to let us know they found a job," she said.

Two students she did help find employment for are Jordee James-McQueen and Julia Clark. They both answered a help wanted ad placed by Mary Bryant for assistance at Mary & Friends Tearoom in Old Town.

James-McQueen graduated from high school this year and is working to save money for school in Grande Prairie this fall.

"The employment centre made it simpler to find jobs because they are all listed in one place," she said.

Knowing the jobs posted are actually for summer students helped also, said Clark.

This is Clark's second summer working in Yellowknife. The University of Toronto student decided to travel here and take a chance on finding a summer job after hearing about job opportunities from a friend.

"There are a lot more jobs here than down south," she said.

With one more semester to go before completing her psychology degree, Clark said she will come back to Yellowknife Ofor a couple of yearsO to find work in her field of study.

Bryant has hired students since she opened the tearoom in 2000, using the employment centre to find workers for the last three years.

"I pay as much as I can and try to build an atmosphere of teamwork," she said. "We do everything together - wash dishes, clean toilets, cook - I don't ask them to do things I don't do myself."

Almost half of the 16 wait staffers at Oldtown Landing are students this summer, said Jeff Kincaid, manager of the service staff at the restaurant.

The hourly wage for students at the restaurant ends up being quite high because of tips, he said. Another reason some students look to serving jobs rather than a more structured nine-to-five job is flexibility.

"We try to keep enough people on staff so if someone wants a day or weekend off, we can usually accommodate them," he said.

"We placed ads looking for servers and there's always a flock of students who come around as soon as school is out with their resumes."