Baker Lake (May 03/06) - The first trip to the regional Skills Canada competition by students of Jonah Amitnaaq secondary school in Baker Lake was a successful one.

Teacher and multi-media instructor Craig Vincent accompanied Baker Lake students Bobby Tagoona and Teal Kreuger, right, to the regional Skills Canada competition in Iqaluit this past month. Kreuger won gold for his web-page design at the event. - photo courtesy of Alanna Kelly

Grade 9 student Teal Kreuger captured gold for his web-page design, while fellow student Bobby Tagoona put in a strong showing, despite having to use a Mac inside of his usual PC.

Mariele dePeuter won bronze in cooking skills, while Tobias Yqayuittuq was able to successfully complete his menu requirements.

In the website contest, participants were given a scenario for web-page design, and provided with several photos and data-text documents.

The students had to design a website for a fictitious company using its criteria and source documents.

The software of choice for the competition was Macromedia's Dreamweaver.

Teacher and Baker Lake Multi-Media Club instructor Craig Vincent said Kreuger's skill comes from a combination of being in the club, regular school curriculum and outside interests.

He said Kreuger declined to participate at the national level because the logistics of attending the Skills Canada event and the Canada-wide Science Fair just didn't work.

The second-place finisher will represent Nunavut at the national competition.

"The dates between the two national competitions in Quebec and Nova Scotia are only a day apart, making it impossible for Teal (Kreuger) to attend both," said Vincent.

"I was impressed with the level of maturity he showed in handling the situation.

"I'm not going to compare the two projects, but Teal finished three hours before the end time and had to wait for the judges to show up.

"Winning gold attests to the calibre of his design."

Kreuger, 14, is happy to go to the science fair knowing another student was given the chance to attend the national skills competition.

He said he's satisfied to have competed at the regional event and has no regrets about the end result.

"Not being able to go to the nationals isn't that disappointing because I didn't expect to win at the regional level," said Kreuger.

"I like technology, but it's not something I'd want a career in.

"I'm leaning more towards teaching or journalism, but I would describe myself as a tech head at home."

Kreuger said understanding technology helps with his overall education because it's easily applied to numerous courses.

He said being fairly computer literate makes life a little easier in today's world.

"It's helpful to know how to do things yourself because it can be quite difficult to get things fixed in the North, or to find someone who knows how to fix them.

"You either have to send it away or pay big bucks for a technician.

"I fix all our computers at home, although we don't usually have too many problems."

Teacher Alanna Kelly accompanied dePeuter and Yqayuittuq to the cooking competition. She picked the two because of their efforts in a cooking club she and her husband, Kevin, started in Baker this year. The menu her two students had to prepare started with cream of mushroom soup, salad and vinaigrette.

Then they had to debone a chicken and prepare a stuffed chicken breast, vegetable and special potato.

The meal was capped off by a chocolate mousse.

Kelly said students had four hours to prepare the meal, with each course having a time limit for preparation and presentation to the judges.

"One of the judges is the head chef at the Lord Elgin Hotel in downtown Ottawa, which is a prestigious position," said Kelly.

"It was good for the students to meet her and see what's expected from a person in a position like that."

Kelly said the regional competition was a positive experience for her and the students.

As an instructor, she's now aware of what will help them be more successful in the future.

"It was a real eye-opener to see what's out there, and get a feel for what's expected from the students.

"Overall, our two students competed well and were good role models for others in our community who may be interested in competing in future years.

"Hopefully, with the mining industry and other opportunities on the horizon in Baker, the end result of our club and this type of training will be jobs for our kids."