Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Friday, September 7, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Two young mothers are packing up their families and are heading off to school, showing it's never too late for a fresh start.

Charlene Sundberg is finishing her first year of early childhood development at Grande Prairie Regional College. Having had her first child at 17, she understands all too well the challenges of being a young mother in high school.

"Until this day, there are still a lot of young mothers in my community who keep dropping out of high school," said Sundberg.

A big problem, she says, is the lack of day care available in Dettah. After her studies, Sundberg wants to return to Dettah to open a day care so young mothers will have a better chance of finishing school.

With two children aged five and seven, Angela Charlo, 24, also had a tough time getting through school. About to go into her first year of business administration at the same college as Sundberg, Charlo hopes she can be an example to other people struggling through school, and to her children.

"I'm pretty much doing this for them," said Charlo, who moved her family down to Grande Prairie this summer so she could start classes in the fall.

"This was a big step for me to take them out of town," said Charlo. "Now that I'm here, I realize I made the right choice."

The two got some help with the $2,000 post-secondary scholarships they each received through De Beers Canada and Yellowknives Dene First Nation. This is the second year De Beers has given out scholarships as part of the Impact Benefit Agreement arrangement with the Yellowknives Dene.

Phil Mercredi, a co-ordinator with Yellowknives Dene, said that encouraging higher education has been a focus of the chief and council.

"We want to encourage students and parents to look at higher education as a model of success," said Mercredi.

Eight people received scholarships this year under the program, all of them enrolled in post-secondary institutions. The program is also open to high school students, and anyone working on their general educational development (GED).

Scholarships of $250 are up for grabs to students in Grade 10 or 11 and GED students, and $500 is available to those working on their Grade 12, according to Cathie Bolstad, a spokesperson for De Beers Canada.

She said there were no applicants in those categories this year. Mercredi said they'll try to get the word out sooner to high schools this year to get some high school and GED applicants.

The scholarships are awarded by a committee made up of representatives from the Yellowknives Dene and De Beers.