Inuvik students compete at nationals
Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Jun 01/01) - From debating to watching whales, five Samuel Hearne students got to do it all recently.
The Grade 9 students represented the NWT at the Canadian Junior High Debating Championships. The event was held at the Sacred Heart school in Halifax, Nova Scotia May 19-21.
The NWT sent three teams. Neha Sharma and Liesbeth de Klerk comprised one, and Tim Robertson and Maja Haogak formed another.
Because one debate club member dropped out, J.C. Buerger had to team up with a player from Nova Scotia to form NWT's third team. He was named the top speaker for the NWT.
Samuel Hearne vice-principal Geoff Buerger also went along and said the seven did well.
"We were vastly improved from last year, just vastly improved. We beat several teams," Buerger said.
He singled out Sharma, Robertson and Haogak, because they also attended the 2000 nationals in Saskatchewan.
"They grew up a lot in the year in between and I'm very, very proud of them," Buerger said.
"They were competitive in every one of their debates."
Sharma and de Klerk defeated a team from British Columbia, and J.C. Buerger and his teammate defeated a Manitoba team and a B.C. squad.
The students had a loaded weekend.
"They also did workshops on the various aspects of debate. And they had public speaking competitions," Buerger said. "It was really a wonderful opportunity."
Buerger pointed out his students had farther to go than anyone else in the country to reach Halifax.
They hung around in Nova Scotia for a day or two for some sightseeing. They saw Peggy's Cove, St. Francis Xavier University, Cape Breton National Park, and they went on a whale watching trip in Cape Breton.
While in Cape Breton Buerger and the students stayed at the home of Bill Crawford, who was a guidance teacher at Samuel Hearne last year.
