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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Diga, meaning wolf, is Teagan Zoe-Hardisty's favourite Tlicho Yatii word.

Teagan Zoe-Hardisty, a Class 6 student at Bompas Elementary School, chose to do his Heritage Fair project on the Dogrib language. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The Class 6 student at Bompas Elementary School is now able to speak more words in the Dogrib language thanks to his Heritage Fair project. Zoe-Hardisty wanted to learn more about Tlicho Yatii because it's the language his grandparents Charlie and Gina Zoe speak in Behchoko.

"It's a really cool language," he said.

In addition to a larger vocabulary, he also learned about job opportunities in the Tlicho region and how caribou hide is used to make things such as moccasins and jackets with fringe.

It's neat to know a different language, said Zoe-Hardisty, who hopes to one day be fluent in Tlicho Yatii.

Heritage Fair projects completed by students at the Fort Simpson school were on display to the public on March 20. Every student in the school was encouraged to do a project.

Students in the younger grades collaborated on joint projects including one by the Class 1 students on where they are from.

Students in the three older grades were given greater leeway when choosing their topics, said teachers Nicky Crawley and Sharon Allen, who organized the fair.

Heritage Fairs encourage students to explore topics they have a personal connection to help them understand where they come from, said Allen.

Public speaking and presentation skills are also developed as part of the fair. Each student explained their project to a group of judges, said Crawley.

Sage Fabre-Dimsdale had a very personal connection to his project. The Class 6 student looked at changes in communication during three generations in his family.

Fabre-Dimsdale said he combined his original ideas of doing a project about gaming or his family tree to develop the topic that earned him first place in his division. He used the Internet and interviewed family members for his research. Fabre-Dimsdale spoke to family members spanning generations, including his grandfather George Dimsdale, his father Wilson Dimsdale and his great-aunt Doris Pellissey-Bruneau.

George talked about having to read out-of-date newspapers in Fort Simpson in the 1960s because planes only came three times a week from Yellowknife. Wilson talked about only having a black and white television when he was young.

Fabre-Dimsdale's favourite communications device is the iPhone. It is portable, it can download games and it's also a phone, he said.

His family members discussed the progress in communications during their lifetimes and Fabre-Dimsdale expects the same rapid change.

"I'm sure there will be some big, big changes in communication," he said.

Second place in Class 6 went to Allen Menicoche followed by a joint project by Bryce Hardisty-Phillips and Stanley Letcher.

In Class 5, the top two students included SaNaeah Allen and Alisha Hardisty-Isaiah. Shaznay Waugh and Emily Hardisty tied for third.

The winners in Class 4 were Patrick Tate, Lucas Tate and Abigail Pascua-Matte.

The top three students in classes 4 to 6 will advance to the regional Heritage Fair in Fort Simpson on April 10.

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