Norman Wells (Sep 04/06) - With classes beginning again in earnest at learning centres around the Sahtu, it's going to be a busy fall for many in the region.

"We've got two programs running together this September: the heavy equipment operator class with 12 people, and the camp kitchen helper class with 10," said Dudley Johnson, co-ordinator of community programs for Aurora College in the Sahtu.

With the kitchen crew working at the Trumpeter camp on the outskirts of Norman Wells, they're able to cook for the students in the equipment operator course.

"Combining the two saves a lot of money," he said, adding Peter Gunter and Hodgson's Contracting made the camp available to the college which made the initiative possible.

A Norman Wells first is also happening this year with English as a second language training being offered by the centre's administrative assistant, Suat Lim, who was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents and is currently close to finishing her Masters in distance education.

"I'm working with five Chinese students right now and one woman from Pakistan," she said. "It's not easy."

Some of the Chinese students would score 92 per cent in an exam on reading or writing and their comprehension is really good, she said.

"Conversations are hard, though, because they have trouble with the accents and slang we use in Canada," she said.

"Two of the students were engineers in their home country who used to lecture at universities."

It makes for a big change when professionals come to Canada and basically start life over, she said, adding she's glad to help make their transition that much easier.

In Deline, the college is offering an environmental monitor course that starts Tuesday with a full slate of 20 students signed up.

"We'll probably look to run another environmental monitor course in another community so we can handle everyone who was interested."

The big push in Deline was due to uranium clean-up efforts around Great Bear Lake, he said.

"It's a six-week course," he said, adding it covers everything from bear safety to boating.

On the human resources front, Johnson is still looking for one adult educator in the region - specifically in Fort Good Hope.

"We're doing interviews to find a replacement for Karen Mercer," he said.

"We hope to have someone hired soon."