Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regardless of the conditions of the school and environment this weekend, I would like to focus my Member’s statement on celebrations and successes of the graduation celebrations that will be going on in Inuvik this year.
Regardless of how cold the halls may be and how dismal the school may look, I’m very pleased to say that the East Three School is going to have 34 graduates this year, which is historical and also one of the highest graduating classes that came out of Inuvik. You can’t put a price on education. You can’t put a price on the future of our students and our communities. I’m very glad to see the great accomplishments that the students that are graduating from East Three High School have made.
As we all know, graduating from high school is a big moment in any of our lives. Probably one of the biggest moments that we ever experience is graduating from high school. I’d like to offer my congratulations to the 34 students, and thank all the teachers and staff for all their hard work and efforts, and making that transition from the old school to the new school, and being able to be successful in graduating these 34 students.
At the same time, the Aurora College will be having a completion ceremony. This completion ceremony will be graduating young adults as well as adults who have decided to make a change in their lives and also take that step in developing and educating themselves to high standards, become educated and become better members of society. I would like to congratulate each and every one of the students that will be graduating from this completion ceremony in the learning centre in Inuvik with the Aurora College centre and the great program that they do. It is a big moment in their lives and shows that this government is putting in the efforts, the resources, and making sure that our people that are out of the school system have that opportunity to thrive and succeed in life and we have those opportunities. In Inuvik we’re lucky that we do have the facility to do so.
I know that there have been a lot of challenges over the last year within the high school and in Inuvik with the economy, and to be able to overcome those challenges and to get to this day of completion and graduation, that’s a big accomplishment, and I’d like to congratulate all the graduates this weekend in Inuvik.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Along with my colleague from Inuvik Boot Lake, I want to offer my congratulations to those that are graduating from high school in Inuvik, the first graduating class of the new East Three School, which may have some challenges but the students surely enjoy it.
Also, he talked about the learning centre completion ceremony, and it’s always one ceremony that I never have an opportunity to make because we’re normally in session. But it’s a very important ceremony because many of these students have left school, they’ve gone back and got their grades upgraded and then they can get into mainstream college programs. So I’ve always been quite proud of the students that have gone through that program. I know a number of them that have gone through Aurora College and gone on to bigger and better things and I totally commend them for that.
Also, the Aurora College in Inuvik had their graduation recently and, unfortunately, again I was unable to make that event, but my colleague and I will be at the Inuvik graduation ceremony tomorrow. I think as an Assembly we have so many opportunities coming down the line.
You’ve heard Mr. Miltenberger talking about the fibre optic line. We’ve got the Inuvik-Tuk highway; we’ve got, potentially, the Mackenzie Valley Highway and all the work going on in the Sahtu. There’s just a tremendous amount of opportunity out there for our students, and I think as leaders from across the Northwest Territories, I think we should do what we can to encourage our students to take advantage of those opportunities. With devolution coming, that’s going to open up many more new doors.
So I’m very proud of the students of the Northwest Territories. Many of them have overcome challenges to get into the position where they are and I think their efforts – and as long as you put some effort into it, you will get something out of it – should be commended and should be applauded. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. I, too, would like to congratulate the students in Inuvik. My god-daughter is there. Nicole Jacobson is graduating there tomorrow and I’m sorry I couldn’t attend due to business here. All the best to her and all the best to the graduating class.
