Yellowknife (Feb 14/03) - The noise and clamour of 224 Grade 8 girls milling about the Explorer Hotel last week was overwhelming.

The teens descended on Yellowknife from a variety of western and eastern arctic communities for the second annual Skills Canada NWT/Nunavut conference.

This year's keynote speaker was the NWT's deputy education minister, Loretta Foley. Her message was simple: women are vital to the success of the NWT.

"By 2010 in the NWT we're not going to have enough skilled labour," she said. "We need you."

"You have more choices and opportunities than ever before in our history."

Foley attended the conference despite needing an X-ray and stitches for an injured finger. Some girls weren't so lucky.

"Some of the kids from some of the communities couldn't get in because of weather or mechanical difficulty," said Allyson Stroeder, Skills Canada NWT/NU executive director.

In all, 12 students from five Nunavut communities were unable to attend.

"They are pretty disappointed kids, so we're seeing what we can do for them," said Stroeder.

This is the second time Skills Canada has hosted the event. Stroeder said this year's was better than the first.

"There was lots of chatter this morning. Lots of buzzing going on, which is good," she said.

Elaine Somers, an instrumentation mechanic with Imperial Oil, was one of the over 40 mentors who attended the workshop.

"We've got a huge skill gap in the trade area and we need to start filling it," she said.

Evidence of that gap was the fact the conference could not find a female mechanic or plumber to attend the event.

Justine Ollerhead and Courtney Wough, from William McDonald school, attended Somers' workshop where they built a glass bug.

"Once you start doing the courses it is a lot of fun," said Ollerhead.

Wough added that the workshops are a good idea.

"It's a good way to get experience and to know what different careers are like," she said.

Both girls want to pursue careers in marine biology or archaeology.