DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
A heritage fair and a job fair at Fort Resolution's Deninu School on April 18 achieved their goal, according to principal Dan Summers.
Macheala Larocque, a 15-year-old Grade 9 student at Fort Resolution's Deninu School, stands in front of her project at the heritage fair on April 18.
- photo courtesy of Deninu School |
"I think we hit a homer," said Summers, adding the events encourage students to learn about their heritage and explore career opportunities.
The heritage fair featured projects covering subjects such as NWT history, trapping, animals of the North and aboriginal languages.
"I think it was a good way for people to learn more about their heritage," said Dion Norn, a 15-year-old Grade 9 student who worked on a project about hunting and trapping with fellow student Keenan Hunter.
"We told them about how native Americans would use different techniques and different weapons in hunting and trapping," Norn said.
Hunter, a 14-year-old Grade 9 student, said a lot of people were interested in their project.
"I used to go out hunting and trapping with my dad when I was younger," he noted.
Summers said the projects of two other students - Laney Beaulieu and Macheala Larocque - were chosen by a panel of 10 impartial judges to represent the school at a heritage fair regional competition next month in Fort Smith.
However, four winning projects in all were chosen at Deninu School, including the one by Norn and Hunter, and another by nine-year-old Grade 4 student Aiden
Moes.
"We're hoping that there will be room for the other two groups," Summers said of the regional competition. "That's why we went to four."
Deninu School was first introduced to heritage fairs last year with eight presentations.
Laney Beaulieu, a 13-year-old Grade 7 student, worked for about a month to create a project on traditional medicine in the Fort Resolution area.
"Everyone's projects were really good," she said.
Macheala Larocque, a 15-year-old Grade 9 student, created a project on dog sledding.
"Because I used to dog race and it seemed interesting," she explained.
Moes created a project that told the story of Canadian George Buerling, a Second World War fighter pilot.
In all, the students from Grade 4-12 created 45 projects.
Younger students created a display cabinet with a heritage theme, and also worked on cultural crafts like necklaces and little canoes.
"This year, we decided to combine culture day, the heritage fair and the job fair," said Summers. "It was a great success. We had a ton of people here."
The job fair was focused on students in Grades 6-12.
There were representatives of nine organizations from Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Fort Resolution. They included the RCMP, De Beers Canada, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Aurora College and others.
It was the first time a job fair had been held at Deninu School.
Beaulieu, who wants to be a nurse, enjoyed the job fair.
"It was really cool to see all the jobs," she said.
