GAMETI/RAE LAKES
Learning how to write professional fundraising letters and organizing a community event were just two of the lessons Jean Wetrade Gameti School students learned last month.

Orie Bekale, Grade 11, helps Claire Blackduck, Leela Bekale and Jersey Gon create a spooky spider craft during Jean Wetrade Gameti School's House of Horrors Halloween carnival on Oct. 30. - photo courtesy of Shelagh O'Neill

Students worked for more than four weeks preparing for a special Halloween fundraiser at the school on Oct. 30, said teacher Shelagh O'Neill. The event was open to everyone in Gameti.

Called the JWGS House of Horrors, the carnival had everything from haunted snowmobile rides through Gameti to a raffle draw with two return tickets to Yellowknife as its grand prize.

"It was all student-run," O'Neill said. "It took us all month to prepare for it."

Students in Grades 10, 11 and 12 were divided into teams, which were assigned different responsibilities.

One team was in charge of writing letters to local businesses explaining the event and asking for donations to be used as raffle prizes, while another team organized and ran the bake sale and refreshments. The entertainment team planned the crafts, games and snowmobile rides, O'Neill said.

"We kind of touched on everything," she said. "All of the students were responsible, they did all the in-school announcements."

In addition to acting as a fundraiser, the event allowed students to earn community service hours. Students in the Northwest Territories must earn 25 community service hours over their high school career to be eligible to graduate, according to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

It also gave students a chance to explore talents in a variety of subjects, O'Neill said.

Writing letters to local businesses taught writing skills while making banners allowed students to get artistically creative.

"It was a really great way to incorporate all these different studies," she said. "It was a mini-way to introduce some of those fun courses into our one event."

For Grade 11 student Orie Bekale, that meant creating the visual components for the carnival.

"My favourite part was making the decorations and painting the sign," she said.

Bekale's duties weren't limited to one area, she added. As part of the entertainment team, she also gave instructions and helped younger students and visitors at the craft-making station.

"My job was to make the decorations, paint the banners, do crafts with the kids and help sell the tickets," she said.

Making students responsible for each detail of the carnival not only builds teamwork and organizational skills, but confidence as well, O'Neill said.

"As a teacher here in the school, what I really like about the program is that it's all student-run, it's their ideas, their crafts, their banners," she said. "They all worked together to put on this big event."

Making the carnival open to residents also helped foster a sense of community, O'Neill added.

"It's just really nice to have something that's for the community, that brings community members into the school," she said.

Students raised about $1,000 during the carnival, which will be set aside until students determine the best use for the money. O'Neill said a few possibilities include buying new computer programs or funding someone to come to the school teach a new sport in gym class.

In the meantime, Bekale said she is already hoping the school will host another Halloween carnival next year.

"I liked seeing the kids happy," she said.

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