INUVIK - It took about three years for Paulina Burns to find the confidence she always yearned for. Now that the 15-year-old has it, she's making sure she'll never lose it again.

"It's okay to be confident and I don't have to worry about what anyone else thinks," the Grade 10 student said.

Edwin Joe and his fellow classmates didn't take long at all getting totally immersed in Turtle Concepts on Friday afternoon at the school. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

"I just want to help people who are a bit lost. I want to help bring them out of their own shell. It's not hard to do and it's not scary. It's about being yourself."

She's quick to credit Dave Jones, a former teacher and member of the Garden River First Nation from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., for how far she's come.

Last week was the third time in three years that he returned to Samuel Hearne Secondary School to give his three-day Turtle Concepts workshop.

For Jones, who travels the world trying to empower aboriginal youth, it's not just about telling youth they can be great leaders, it's about working with them to get there.

"I had to show students in one class how to walk proud," he said. "That was such a big deal for them.

"That indicates to me that somewhere in life someone has perhaps ridiculed them for just holding their head up high."

Jones and his two fellow Turtle assistants were all about positive talk but they were also all about getting students out of their comfort zones in a group setting where they shared their insecurities and even danced to pulsating dance music together.

Grade 10 student Cain McDonald was so moved by the presentation that it made him want to turn his back on people who are holding him back.

"I just want to be around people who want the best for me and bring me up instead of down," he said. "But I also know that I can't hold people to my own expectations. I have to try to overlook things."

Hearing that kind of feedback is music to Jones' ears, which is why he continues to come back again and again.

"I see students that are willing," he said. "They are my future and if they're guided properly, and given the proper tools they can be leaders."

He also has a message for how community leaders can help youth succeed.

"We have to respect the maturity level of the audiences we're dealing with," Jones said.

"I never expect children to act as adults. I don't want youth to act like elders, so when we work with them we expect them to be fidgety. We expect them to be a little bit shy. We expect them to be challenging. As adults we need to learn to forgive."