NWT - When John Stuart was a teenager, he found himself unexpectedly in charge of Inuvik's youth centre.

Tuktoyaktuk Youth Centre co-ordinator John Stuart, second from right, poses with his youth support team, including summer students, from left, Lennie Gruben, Kelsey Lucas and youth co-ordinator assistants Kristi Anderson and Ryland Anderson. - photo courtesy of Darlene Gruben

"I was there as a summer student one day and then all of a sudden everybody quit and I was the co-ordinator," he recalled, laughing. "Most of the youth that went to the youth centre at that time were all my friends, so it made working there really easy."

That was 10 years ago, when he was barely old enough to vote, and Stuart couldn't have predicted he'd become co-ordinator of the Jason Jacobson Youth Centre after returning to his hometown of Tuktoyaktuk, where he is today. "Tuk called me back, so I came back," he said.

Since he took the helm of the youth centre two weeks ago, Stuart has organized daytime activities for 20 to 40 pre-teens and evening programs for 20 to 30 teens, with the help of summer students from Mangilaluk school. The centre is open from 9 a.m. till 10 p.m. during the school year and until midnight during the summer. Stuart said some people can't handle the long hours, but he doesn't mind.

"I just like working with the youth," Stuart said. "They're a lot of fun and they like learning and getting new ideas." Though he's completed some training courses through Aurora College on working with teens, Stuart said his experience as a coach has helped a lot to prepare him for this job.

Over the years, he's coached volleyball, soccer, Dene Games, and wrestling, so a lot of the young people who go to the youth centre already know him as a coach and are more open with him, he said.

"I know all the youth really good so I get a lot of information from them. They come up with some really good ideas that I know they'd like to do."

He's made an effort to consult with the youth on programs they want to start up at the centre or field trips they would like to take, and he said he wants to continue getting feedback at youth committee meetings twice a month.

"I kinda keep them on the same level as me, which is what they like, I think," he said.