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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The NWT Teachers' Association (NWTTA) donated $11,000 to three local charities using money raised by Catholic school teachers during casual Fridays.

Teachers are allowed to dress casually on Fridays for a donation and they managed to raise enough money to make generous contributions to the Abe Miller Centre ($3,187), the Society of St. Vincent de Paul ($4,445) and the Salvation Army ($3,483).

Representatives from each society were there to accept the donations from Loralea Wark, president of the NWTTA.

Board chair Mary Vane said it was nice to see staff getting involved in helping the community.

"It's a wonderful outreach to our community and we're very pleased with the contributions," she said.

Exchange a huge success

Students from St. Joseph school recently went to Quebec City on an exchange to take in French Canadian culture and language. Board member Sylvia Masongsong said it was the fifth time students from YCS had gone to Quebec and this year's trip was a huge success.

"The organizer on their end, the teacher who has been involved with it, said this year's group of students were the best at speaking French they had received from us," she said. "It speaks a lot about our teachers and the program we offer."

Students got to experience a maple sugar farm and had a chance to visit the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre Basilica.

Enrolment down

According to September 2008 enrolment numbers, the district is down about 70 students from the previous year.

Catholic school enrolment was down to 1,415 in 2008 from 1,485 in 2007.

St. Joseph school has 339 students enrolled, St. Joseph middle school has 127, Weledeh has 448 and St. Patrick high school has 501.

The decrease in enrolment reflects a national trend of declining enrolment due to decrease in birth rates, according to the YCS report.