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ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Three students from Fort Liard are brimming with fresh ideas about how to help youth in their community.

Lindsay Berreault, Brittney Berreault and Neil Kotchea attended the seventh annual National Aboriginal Youth Violence and Changing Times Training Conference in Victoria, B.C., from March 25-27. The students, who are part of the newly formed Fort Liard Youth Committee, used the conference to find initiatives they could adapt and use in the hamlet.

Lindsay Berreault, left, and Brittany Berreault, members of the Fort Liard Youth Committee, sit in an airplane last month on their way to a national aboriginal youth conference in Victoria, B.C. - photo courtesy of Roslyn Pruitt

The 10-member committee was formed in February to help plan activities and assist in delivering programs at the community's youth centre, said Roslyn Pruitt, the manager of programs and services with the hamlet.

"The youth committee will start to make their own decisions on what they think should go on here for the kids," Pruitt said.

At the conference the three students were able to choose between 25 different workshops that addressed the challenges facing aboriginal youth, said Pruitt, who accompanied the students together with Vincent Bertrand, the youth centre co-ordinator.

"I think it was really worthwhile," Pruitt said.

The conference delivered a lot of useful information that can be applied in Fort Liard, said Vincent Bertrand.

One workshop in particular focused on how to establish a youth council or committee and how to keep it strong. The committee is something that the community needs, Bertrand said.

"The adults around here don't really know what youth want," he said.

The committee will suggest activities and then staff will see if there's funding available for it, Bertrand said.

"We're seeing what we can do for the youth," he said.

The conference was "awesome" and a lot of fun, said Lindsay Berreault.

With approximately 300 youth there from across Canada, Berreault said she met a lot of people and learned about their cultures. The theme of this year's conference was "Celebrating our Nations and Traditions."

One workshop with a powerful message was the Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth (PARTY) Program, she said. The program involved touring the Victoria General Hospital, seeing a trauma room and listening to nurses and a brain injury survivor talk.

The message was all about what can happen if you drink and do drugs.

"You're risking your life," she said.

Berreault also enjoyed the Balancing both Worlds presentation by the Red Power Squad, a performance group from Edmonton. The group members talked about their lives and the lessons they've learned. They also shared some hip-hop moves, she said.

Berreault said she's still sorting through what she learned at the conference to see how it can be used in Fort Liard.

"I would go again," she said about the event.

One activity that Berreault would like to see in the community is a computer club. It's something that would be good for everyone, she said.