Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Baker Lake - Members of the Jonah Amitnaaq Skills Club in Baker Lake won six medals at the recent Territorial Skills Canada Nunavut competition in Iqaluit.

Bobby Tagoona, 15, brought home gold for web-page design and programming.

Tagoona will now travel to the National Skills Canada Competition this coming June in Saskatoon, Sask.

"My program was about Nunavut youth and how they got involved in creating the territory, Nunavut's land and water, the government budget and other perspectives like that," said Tagoona.

"I didn't find the competition as strong this year, but that might be because I've become so much better at HTML formatting."

Tagoona was so impressive with his work in Iqaluit, he was offered a job to create a business web site.

"Being offered that job has me wanting to go to college and take art and web-site development courses."

Olivia Ulliot, 14, took a silver medal for workplace safety.

Ulliot said she got interested in the topic through a course at her school. She soon realized workplace safety was a skill she could carry with her when she entered the workforce and the topic interested her a lot.

"When we began the competition, I was given a small written test and then I had to evaluate three different work sites they had set up and identify any hazards that might be present," said Ulliot.

"Then I had to give a five minute slide-show presentation on the rights and responsibilities of young workers."

Ulliot said young workers in Nunavut lose a significant amount of time due to injuries sustained through heavy lifting and other workplace activities. She said there seems to be more injuries in Nunavut involving young workers than in most parts of Canada.

"The employers should be showing young employees how to properly do their job and the employees should be able to recite what they've been told.

"It takes a joint effort between the government, employers and employees to create a safe workplace," she said.

Andrew Forsey, 15, claimed a bronze medal for his 2D design and multi-media work in creating a poster for a fictitious art show. Forsey said multi media interests him because of the different formats that can be used to change things.

He said he enjoys the creative and artistic elements of working in multi media.

"I think of it as a hobby at times, but that doesn't mean it couldn't become a career choice," said Forsey.

"I usually just start working with a subject, gain inspiration from looking at it and see where it all takes me.

"The Skills Canada program is very good for youth to be involved in.

"You learn a lot and it can open the door to lots of opportunities for you."