Yellowknife (May 24/06) - The 2006-07 YCS budget is well underway, said assistant superintendent of business Mike Huvenaars, but cannot be released as of yet.

Huvenaars said he was working on several scenarios, but until Education Minister Charles Dent makes a decision whether YCS gets a fourth school or not, the budget cannot be voted on by the trustees or released to the public.

A timeline for Minister Dent's decision has not been released.

Several teachers and classroom assistants attended education conferences over the past few months and shared their experiences at the Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) trustee meeting last Wednesday evening.

The conferences included the Northern Alberta Teachers Conference in February, the Educational Assistants Conference, also in February, and the Sharing Purpose in Catholic Education (SPICE) held in April.

"We plan to hold our own version this year," YCS superintendent Kern Von Hagen said, speaking about a Catholic education conference YCS plans to host in October.

"It'll be a triple wammy," he said, adding there are plans for two more conferences to come. All conferences were held in Alberta.

Students from Ecole St. Joseph presented an update of events at the school and showcased the musical talents of the St. Joe's band for the YCS trustees.

A sideshow of pictures from the week-long Grade 8 trip to Blachford Lake was shown.

That was followed by a display of improvisation on percussion instruments by the school band.

The percussion training helps students understand rhythm better, band teacher Stephen Richardson said.

St. Joe students have also been involved in several culture endeavours, making use of the $15,000 budget. This was an increase of $10,000 compared to last year.

Students made rabbit snares, held bannock and jam days with storytelling, went dog sledding, hosted a winter camp, as well as made moccasins, mittens and drums this year.