Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (May 24/04) - A Hay River elementary school student has been named the NWT winner of Natural Resource Canada's Energy and the Environment calendar contest.

Lee Lafferty Jones, 8, of Harry Camsell school, won with her illustration of windmills.

Her drawing will be featured in the 2005 edition of NRC's Energy and the Environment calendar. One piece of student artwork from each province and territory is selected for the 13-month calendar.

"It's exciting," Lee says of winning the contest.

Her poster includes the slogan "We can use wind for energy."

The Grade 3 student says she has been learning about energy issues since she was in kindergarten.

Over 160 students from Hay River, Deline and Tulita participated in the contest, which encourages children to learn more about climate change and how it relates to energy use.

Due to the positive response to this year's contest and the quality of the artwork submitted, the Arctic Energy Alliance is seeking corporate sponsors to help with the costs of publishing an NWT-only calendar.