DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
Two Grade 9 students from Deninu School in Fort Resolution got a first-hand look at how the territorial government operates after spending a week working as pages at the legislative assembly.

Fort Resolution's Kayleigh Hunter poses with Jackie Jacobson, MLA for Nunakput, during her week working as a page at the legislative assembly in Yellowknife. Below, Amy Ann Mercredi travelled from Fort Resolution to Yellowknife to spend a week working as a Legislative Assembly page. Her duties included carrying messages and other tasks for members of the legislative assembly, including Jackie Jacobson, MLA for Nunakput. - photos courtesy of the NWT Legislative Assembly

Kayleigh Hunter and Amy Ann Mercredi travelled to Yellowknife the week of Oct. 5.

The girls were chosen because staff at Deninu School know they are both mature and reliable, said principal Kate Powell.

"We look at the students and think about who's interested but also who would be responsible and good representatives of the school at an event like that," she said.

During the week, Hunter and Mercredi learned and performed all of a page's duties, including carrying messages between ministers and filling water glasses.

They were also responsible for delivering messages to ministers' assistants and opening doors for visitors.

Mercredi said all tasks had to be performed silently without causing any disturbances.

"You can't walk in the middle while they're (MLAs) speaking, you can't speak while you're inside the chamber," she said.

"There are no cell phones, no interruptions. You can't walk behind the people while they're standing up and talking."

The jobs were divided into eight different stations that pages rotated through during the day, Hunter said.

At one station, pages would be responsible for filling water glasses while pages at the next station would be required to bring documents to staff upstairs.

Each day began at 9 a.m. and didn't finish until 6 p.m., Hunter added.

Though the days were long, Hunter said she enjoyed the program, especially getting to know pages from other communities.

"It was really fun learning about our territory and meeting new people," she said.

For Mercredi, she liked learning about issues impacting the territory.

"Being a page was pretty interesting and I enjoyed it," she said.

"Some parts were very educational."

She also enjoyed getting to spend her days in the legislative assembly building, which is home to a variety of artwork, carvings and artifacts.

"There was a lot of unique things you can see and browse around," she said.

Both Hunter and Mercredi agreed if given a chance, they would participate in the program again.

In the meantime, they're busy catching up on schoolwork they missed while they were in Yellowknife and telling fellow students all about their trip.

"We've been telling them how it was, how did we like the job experience and stuff like that," Mercredi said.

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