Baker Lake (May 15/06) - They may have been small in number, but students from Jonah Amitnaaq secondary school in Baker Lake were large in stature at the Skills Canada competition in Iqaluit this past month.

Teal Kreuger and Bobby Tagoona entered the web page design competition, while Mariele dePeuter and Tobias Yqayuittuq displayed their cooking skills.

Kreuger captured gold at the competition, while dePeuter brought home bronze.

The gold medallist declined to advance to the national competition later this month because it's held at the same time as the Canada-wide Science Fair, which he will attend by virtue of his overall win at the Kivalliq Regional Science Fair. The Baker students were accompanied to Iqaluit by teachers Craig Vincent and Alanna Kelly.

Vincent, who also oversees the Baker Lake Multi-Media Club of which Kreuger is a member, said he knew the Grade 9 student had the skills to compete, but he didn't know what to expect until they arrived at the competition.

"I didn't have my hopes up too high because I didn't know what level of competition awaited us or what the other schools were doing," said Vincent.

"I had every confidence in my students' abilities, but I didn't know the types of things they were going to run into.

"Their results validate the work we've been doing with the multi-media club and that feels good. A competition like this allows students to compare the skills acquisition they've had with those of others from across the territory."

Kelly said both dePeuter and Yqayuittuq were selected to participate in the regional competition because they were the most-dedicated students in a cooking club she and her husband, Kevin, ran in Baker this year.

She said the two were quite successful, considering it was their first time at a skills event.

"It wasn't easy for them because they had to handle a number of conditions they weren't used to," said Kelly.

"They were in a strange kitchen, not knowing where anything was, and Iqaluit has more product variety than our students have.

"Students in smaller hamlets can't practise with some of the ingredients because they simply don't get them in their community.

"The judges actually commented on the fact the Iqaluit kids were better at using a wider range of ingredients because our kids aren't exposed to many of them."