Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 07/05) - Literacy winners of all ages were recognized for their efforts as part of the NWT Literacy Week.

Mary Ann Vital, Nora Wedzin-Quitte and the Northern Womens Association's Training Centre were the award recipients at the Ministerial Literacy Awards on Saturday.

Kayla Krause and Morgan Johnson, two of the authors of Diamond Fever, sport their new T-shirts. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Nora Wedzin-Quitte was honoured with the Council of the Federation Literacy Award at the ceremony in the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.

"If you don't have the ability to read and write you are in total darkness," she told the gathered crowd.

Wedzin-Quitte returned to school as an adult with only a Grade 3 literacy level. After twenty years of determination she graduated from the University of Regina's social worker program.

Through her work at the Tlicho Community Services Agency Board she councils young people to stay in school.

"I want people to continue to read everyday," she said.

A group of young authors was also honoured at the ceremony.

Three years ago Gayla Meredith's Grade 3 class at Range Lake North school wrote a book about diamonds.

Diamond Fever tells the story of a young boy who moves to the North from South Africa and looks for diamonds.

The book was published in June.

The students, now in Grade 6, were presented T-shirts decorated with the book's title.

Copies of Diamond Fever have been sent to every school in the NWT along with a how to kit for book publishing.

The kit is part of a bursary program organized by the NWT Literacy Council. Meredith donated $5,000 from the earnings of her own book to fund two bursaries to encourage other class publishing projects.

The bursary is open to classes from kindergarten to Grade 6 in any NWT school.

Canada Post

More than 100 people attended the Canada Post Literacy Awards ceremony in Northern United Place on Wednesday.

The Northern Womens Association was honoured with the Community Leadership award. Germain Eyakfwo from Gameti received the Individual Achievement award which included a new computer.

"The award isn't for me, I work for my kids," Eyakfwo said.

Diavik Diamond Mines was also recognized this week. They received the Award for Excellence in Workplace Literacy in the large business initiative category from the Conference Board of Canada. The mine has a workplace learning centre that helps workers upgrade skills.