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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Protests against the proposed school board merger overshadowed last week's territory-wide meeting of NWT educators. They also lent solid backing to regular MLAs in the legislative assembly - who told cabinet to shelve their board merger program and go back to the drawing board last Wednesday.

A motion to put off plans to merge school boards and regional health and housing boards across the territory into six bodies was passed in the assembly 11-0, with all cabinet ministers abstaining.

David Reid, Northwest Territories Teachers Association president, said the march on legislative assembly was "in response to things that are happening in Yellowknife, but our focus is mainly on the lack of consultation." He said the NWTTA and the Yellowknife Catholic School Board (YCSB) had separate protests because "the YCSB wanted parents and students to be involved, and their issues are more around Catholic education.

"Personally, I support the right for a Catholic school board to exist," Reid said. The NWTTA's issues are mostly about the "lack of consultation and what this could mean for education across the territories."

About 800 of the Northwest Territories Teachers Association's 820 educators attended the association's conference.

Loralea Wark, a Yellowknife teacher at Ecole St. Patrick, was among the teachers at the conference who protested against the school board merger at the legislative assembly in Yellowknife.

"Aside from the underlying Catholic issue, it's an education issue," she explained. "Merging education with health care and housing - it's not good for our kids and it's not good for democracy. It cuts kids' programs and quality of education."

"I like the idea of parents having a choice," said colleague Steve Payne, who also participated in the protest. "Take away choice, you take away competition. The no-consulting is definitely a big deal. It seems like this government is doing whatever it wants in the past year. We need a change in power."

Ashley Deavu, a teacher at K'alemi Dene school in Ndilo, said she would not be participating in the protest. "I don't necessarily have a problem with them amalgamating," she said. "I think two or three school boards in such a small area is a little bit ridiculous."

Educators from outside Yellowknife were less opinionated about the merger, mainly because they have not been privy to the details.

Christina Pierrot, a Grade 2 teacher at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school in Inuvik, said she had no opinion on the amalgamation. "I have no real knowledge of it," Pierrot said.

Aklavik program support teachers Danny Rodgers and Sheila Greenland both said they did not know enough about the school board merger to participate in the protest. However, Rodgers did say that amalgamating health, housing and schools into one board "seems like it's a big, big job."

Behchoko math teacher Vanessa Payne said she did not feel the need to protest. "I'll be there in spirit," she said.

Stephanie Kinney, a teacher at Angik school in Paulatuk, said she did not have a lot of knowledge on the amalgamation, but she said she did wonder what it will mean for her and her school.

Aside from the merger, she said the conference was a valuable and rare chance to network and share advice and stories with educators from other communities. "When I do things like this, I feel good. I feel invigorated," she said. "There was a lot of selection in the sessions."

Some teachers complained they didn't get into many of the sessions they wanted, although they submitted their forms before they were due.

Reid said the conference- dubbed "Our Students, Our North, Our Success" - was the first meeting of all educators in the territory hosted by the NWTTA "in modern times."

The goal of the conference was to meet the professional development needs of educators in the territory, Reid said.

Ashley Deavu, a teacher at K'alemi, said she learned things she could implement in the classroom the very next day. Deavu learned a lot of little physical activities students can do while simultaneously doing educational activities because kinesthetic movements help to sharpen the brain. "That was good because I have lots of busy bodies," Deavu laughed.

"It's a chance to meet with other educators from around the territory to share ideas," said St. Patrick school teacher Loralea Wark.

The conference's opening keynote speaker was David Bouchard, a Metis author who recently won a Moonbeam Children's Book Award. "He was extremely inspirational in his opening address," said Reid. "It just set the tone for the conference."

The event was funded by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and the NWTTA, but that the regional professional development committees also contributed by putting aside money for the past two years. Reid said the total cost was "probably in the neighbourhood of $800,000."

Assistant superintendents and superintendents covered the cost of the conference from their own budgets