Fort McPherson (Jun 05/06) - It was a chance to take in a bit of Canadiana for three Fort McPherson students and their teacher on a recent trip to Kingston and Ottawa.

Staying at Queens University for a week, taking in the local sites and learning a bit about Canada's history was part of the adventure for Grade 10 students Robert Koe, Amanda Alexie and Cheyenne Koe. The other was getting to meet 100 students from around the country who came to participate in the Historica Youthlinks Summit in early May.

"I'd bring all the friends I made back here," said Cheyenne, when asked what the one thing she wished she could've taken back to Fort McPherson from the south was.

This reporter thought it would be a constant supply of donuts, as according to Cheyenne, the group, "Went to Tim Hortons, like everyday."

But alas it was the friends she made rather than the donuts or historical sites that made the biggest impression, and isn't that what travelling is all about?

"I think this was a great chance for our students to meet other kids from around the country," said Chief Julius school's social and Northern studies teacher Catherine Beattie, who encouraged her students to write opinion pieces about the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline for the Youthlinks website. Their submissions are what eventually won them their history trip to Canada's capital.

A condition of the trip was to bring a bit of history with them.

So the Chief Julius crew put together a project about none other than Chief Julius, which they would later present.

"He wanted education for everyone here in Fort McPherson," explained Cheyenne of Julius Salu's importance to her community by getting the hamlet's first school built there.

"He didn't want the kids to go away to school. He wanted them here."

So Cheyenne, if making new friends was the best part of the trip, what was the best place you visited?

"Going to Parliament Hill was my favourite part of the trip," said Cheyenne. "The politicians were arguing and then, after, we met them."

After being shown around Kingston and Ottawa for a week and making lots of friends along the way, Cheyenne had some ideas about where she would take her new friends if they ever visited Fort McPherson.

"All over town, just showing them around and then we'd go to the (recreation) complex," she said. "Then I'd take them to eight miles up (the Peel River), where we could go swimming and fishing."