Union awards scholarships

Josie Gould scholarships were awarded to two Yellowknife students recently. From left are: Stephanie Laity and Brad Poulter, two of 10 recipients from across the NWT. In the centre is Josie Gould, for whom the scholarship was named because of her work with the Union of Northern Workers. - Dorothy Westerman/NNSL photo

Union awards scholarships

Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 29/05) - Ten NWT students have received financial assistance through a Union of Northern Workers scholarship.

The Josie Gould scholarships, valued at $3,000 each, were recently awarded to the 10 students.

Recipients were: Katherine Ellen Lepine of Fort Simpson; Trina Cairns of Fort Smith; Mara Smith of Yellowknife; Anita Daniels of Rae Edzo; Stephanie Laity of Yellowknife; Margaret Elizabeth O'Neill of Fort Simpson; Dayna Lennie of Inuvik; Brad Poulter of Yellowknife; Sarah True of Fort Simpson and Alison Lennie of Inuvik.

Josie Gould presented the awards to two Yellowknife students at the Union of Northern Workers office.

"We want to encourage the young people to get a better education and to help them out in their careers," Gould said.

Gayla Wick, regional vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers, said the union wishes every success to the students.

"The volunteer scholarship committee was impressed with the quality of the applications received," Wick said.

"They had a difficult task choosing only 10 winners from the scholarship applications received."

Stephanie Laity plans to attend the University of Alberta to study nursing and return to the North once she completes her education.

"I'd like to specialize in pediatrics, but I've lived here my whole life, so I'd like to come back here to work," Laity said.

Makes life easier

For student Brad Poulter, entering his third year of business administration at the University of Okanagan became a lot easier.

"It's great. Now I can actually pay for my whole tuition," he said. "I'm an advocate for workers rights. I'm going into business and hopefully I can get somewhere where I can help them out," Poulter said.

"Last year, I took a lot of industrial relations and collective bargaining and I actually had to simulate the bargaining agreement," he said.

Barb Wyness, public relations for the union, said the scholarship is available to a wide range of people.

Criteria for the scholarship include being a union member or having a unionized family member.

The Josie Gould scholarship was established in 2002 to honour Gould, a pioneer member of the Union of Northern Workers.

She became involved with the union when it first formed in the late 1960s.

Although retired in 2002, Gould still serves on union committees.