Hitting the nail on the head
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Monday, March 14, 2016
PAULATUK
Heather Thrasher is an ambitious Grade 10 student. This year, she is president of the student council at Paulatuk's Angik School and is getting ready to participate in Northern Youth Abroad.
Heather Thrasher: Paulatuk"s Angik School council president is raising money in the hopes of participating with Northern Youth Abroad this summer. |
She hopes to start raising the $1,000 she needs to participate in the program through bake sales and 50/50 draws, the first of which was scheduled to take place on Mar. 11.
When she's not helping with the council and planning fundraisers, Thrasher spends hours after school each day helping to run activities for kids in the Angik School gym. The kids typically range in age from five to 12-years old.
"I was trying to reach them how to play soccer," Thrasher said. "It's fun teaching them new things and playing with them."
She is also responsible for helping with after-school activities for high school students.
"I just have to supervise what they're doing," she said.
Thrasher said while she doesn't yet know where she will be posted during the Northern Youth Abroad program, but she knows what she's hoping for in terms of her work placement.
Participants spend July and part of August in a five-week placement in southern Canada, which includes 35 hours each week volunteering at a work placement. Youth are encouraged to gear their placements toward career fields they're interested in.
Thrasher said she hopes to be placed in a work environment where she can learn carpentry skills.
"I just like building things," she said.
In fact, Thrasher hopes to become a carpenter when she finishes high school. She said learning about the trade early through Northern Youth Abroad will help her achieve that goal.
But for now, she said she's busy making sure she's mastering the key components she'll need to be a carpenter, including her favourite subject at school this year.
"I'd say it's math," she said. "It's fun to do."
She said anyone thinking of applying for Northern Youth Abroad needs to remember they are responsible for raising $1,000 and should start planning early.
"You need to fundraise," she said.
