Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 03/05) - With his gold medal around his neck and a shy smile on his face, Yellowknife's Chris Fournier hopped on a flight back to his hometown this week knowing he is the best young web designer in the world.

Computer whiz Chris Fournier has put Yellowknife on the map with a gold medal in web page design at the World Skills Competition in Helsinki, Finland. The Sir John grad is pictured just after the results were released.

Fournier's move through the ranks of the Skills Canada organization culminated in a gold medal in web design Wednesday at the World Skills Competition in Helsinki, Finland.

The 19-year-old wowed the NWT chapter of the national organization by snagging a spot on team Canada last year. That he won at the international level amazes Guy Barnable, the executive director of Skills Canada NWT/Nunavut.

"Already he's the best young designer in the world. That's incredible," Barnable says. Barnable travelled with Fournier to Winnipeg for the national competition last year, where Fournier won gold to qualify for team Canada.

He had an inkling that the modest Fournier might win in Helsinki after talking to volunteers this week who said the Sir John Franklin grad was feeling "okay" about the page he had to design for judges.

"When they told me he was feeling good about it, I knew at the time he was holding his own for sure," says Barnable.

"We're so proud to have offered him a playground to develop his skills," he says.

Fournier's mother Bonnie found out about her eldest child's win with a quick web update on Wednesday. The news made finishing her work day tough.

"I'm pretty excited. I'm trying to find everyone I know to tell them," she says.

Likely due to a little revelling and the nine-hour time change, Chris hadn't called home by press time.

Chris' calm demeanor and natural finesse with computers likely won him the gold against competitors all the way from Singapore to Macau, she figures.

"He's so sure of himself. He's got a lot of confidence in what he does," she says.

Chris started tinkering with web design in a Web Skills Club at Sir John. Many territorial competitions and national events later, he took his ability to university to study software engineering.

"It's just always been his thing to learn all kinds of computer languages," says his mother. "We have good resources up here. The schools are excellent. He had all the tools he needed to go this far."

The school district that spawned Fournier, along with many other talented students who have won at Skills Canada competitions in the territory, was thrilled with the news of his success.

"It's a testament to his ability and his diligence in his work. It is also a fine tribute to the high calibre programming by our staff at Yk No. 1 who produce such amazing graduates as Chris," says Reanna Erasmus, chairperson of the board of trustees.

The district's emphasis on trades and technology was reinforced this year with the creation of the Akaitcho Trades and Technology Centre at Sir John Franklin.

Fournier was one of 26 students/apprentices representing Canada at the May 26-29 competition.

At the end of the week, the team walked away with five medals. The computer star will be back in Yellowknife tonight to continue a summer job designing the website for the GNWT department of the executive.