Thanks from student results in trip to Edmonton
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Providence (Apr 06/01) - At times it may seem that teachers' hard work goes unnoticed, but students proved otherwise last week.
More than 1,300 submissions were received from NWT and Nunavut students for the "Thank You For Making a Difference" contest. Students were asked to tell how a particular teacher has influenced their lives.
Fort Providence teacher June Lewis was the winner of a draw for two tickets to Edmonton. Deh Gah student Karalyn Bonnetrouge, who wrote in about Lewis and two other outstanding teachers, won a new computer, a colour printer and year of free Internet access.
Interestingly, Bonnetrouge, a Grade 10 student, has never been taught by Lewis, who educates Grades 2 and 3 students. Instead, Bonnetrouge thinks of Lewis as more of a friend. Together, they instruct younger students in skiing.
"There's something about June that I like... we help out each other," she said. "At first she was shy, and then after a while I started talking to her and she started talking to me."
Lewis arrived at Deh Gah school in August after graduating from Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Regina, Saskatchewan. The award came as a real boost to Lewis, who said she is still learning the ropes.
"You take the classes (in university) and learn about the theories, but this is where you actually do it... this is my struggling year, so this is quite a pick-me-up," she said. "It's going pretty good."
Having grown up in Trout Lake and Fort Simpson, Lewis said she has always wanted to become a teacher.
"I wanted to be able to give back what they gave to me, and that's what I'm doing," she said.
Bonnetrouge had also submitted contest entries in praise of Lois Philipp, another Deh Gah school teacher and Chris Irvine, who now teaches in Jean Marie River. She said Irvine is her favourite teacher of all time. Philipp never gives up on a student, she noted.
"She's really making a difference in our school," said Bonnetrouge, who is looking forward to receiving her computer in the near future.
"It plays DVDs (digital video discs). It's one of the latest," she said excitedly.
