TULITA/FORT NORMAN
Earlier this year, two Tulita students stepped out of the classroom and into the fall session of the NWT legislative assembly for a chance to see the territory's leaders in action.

Grade 9 students Shannon McPherson, left, and Christopher Kosh, right, were chosen by staff at Chief Albert Wright School to work as pages during the fall session of the Legislative Assembly. Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya, middle, said he is proud of the youth and how they represented their home community of Tulita. - photo courtesy of Danielle Mager/NWT Legislative Assembly

Shannon McPherson and Christopher Kosh were chosen by their teachers at Chief Albert Wright School to serve as pages this past October.

"We chose Shannon and Chris because they're both young people who have really good work ethic," said Rachel Thorne, the high school social studies and English teacher.

"They do very well in class and they're leaders in the class. We thought that those attributes and characteristics would carry over really well into the job of being a page and also that it would represent our school in a positive light."

As pages, the youth were expected to fetch water for MLAs, distribute documents, setup and clean up after each sitting and assist the MLAs when needed, among other duties.

Youth are paid $10 an hour for their work, according to the assembly website.

When asked how it felt to be picked for the job, McPherson said "it was cool."

"I wanted to try a new experience," she added.

The 14-year-old enjoyed meeting new people and was impressed with the discussion among the MLAs.

"They take this stuff very seriously, in a good way," she said.

Both students returned to Tulita excited about the experience and with a new found understanding about government, said Thorne.

"The Grade 8 and 9 social studies curriculum focuses on government so this was an excellent tie into what they were learning about already. I think it really drove it home and made it more relevant and a lot more tangible for them," she said.

"The community is very, very proud of our young people who go out and represent us, work hard and come back and are able to share that new knowledge with their peers and the rest of the community.

"These opportunities mean a lot to the people in Tulita and to the other communities."

Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya praised McPherson and Kosh for their work and said he was proud of them for representing their community.

Yakeleya added that he hopes during the process the students learned what it requires to be an MLA or a minister, how the NWT government runs and to respect the members and themselves.

"You can aspire to be whatever you want to be and this is one avenue we're promoting," he said. "(The page program) is giving kids in small communities, outside Yellowknife an opportunity to come down to Yellowknife to do their shopping, to do the page program, meet other kids … and take a dip in the ocean of leadership. This is what it takes to be a leader, plain and simple."

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