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Beverly Caribou herd extinct After numbering in the hun- dreds of thousands the Bev- erlyCaribouhaveallbutdisap- peared in the span of 20 years. See page 6. MacPherson injured in playoffs Fort Smith native Shaun MacPhersons Mount Royal University Cougars made the semi-nals but he is listed day-to-day with a lower body injury. See page 12. SEA ICE DISAPPEARING ACT It has been a wacky winter in the Arctic. See page 9. A funny thing happened on the way to Inuvik Advanced Medical Services drove two new ambulances up the Dempster Highway as they took over EMS delivery in Inuvik. See page 11. Bending over backwards for education Special events were held across all three Aurora Col- lege campuses during their annual winter college week. See page 8. V IS IT W W W .N O R J.C A A national award winning independent newspaper serving northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories since 1977 1.00 February 24 2016 Vol. 39 No. 41 By CRAIG GILBERT On the rst Pink Shirt Day since a student at JBT Elementary School in Fort Smith was injured in a bully- ing incident in October NWT Com- missioner George Tuccaro brought the healing power of music. Principal Cora America told the Journal before our press deadline Feb. 22 that Tuccaro planned to play two anti-bullying songs at a morn- ing assembly at the school Feb. 23. Pink Shirt Day is Feb. 24 in Canada. In the fall our school had issues withsomebullyingandeversincewe havebeentryingveryhardtoresolve andaddressAmericasaid.Werst connected about him visiting before Christmasandconrmedlastmonth. Erasebullying.ca describes bul- lying as any pattern of unwelcome or aggressive behaviour often with the goal of making others uncom- fortable scared or hurt. It is al- most always used as a way of hav- ing control or power over their tar- get and it is often based on another persons appearance culture race religion ethnicity sexual orienta- tion or gender identity. America said the schools sta teaches models and practices PROS Commissioner sings on anti-bullying day principles making sure every action reects Pride Respect Ownership and Safety. We want the kids to take respon- sibility for their actions she said. Its about how they conduct them- selves in the school out in the com- munity and when they visit other places on eld or sports trips. The anti-bullying assembly will also feature a presentation by the JBT student leadership team a performance about kindness by Janet Bells Grade 3 class and an original rap by Grade 9 PWK High School student Jomei Newkirk. A dierent time Fort Smith elder Jane Dragon was a counsellor at PWK High School for 10 years. She said bullying was not an issue when she was grow- ing up because parents were more involved. When I was a kid we were never bulliedshesaid.Parentsdealtwith it. I remember one time my cousin toldmetobringhisbookshomeafter school.Itookthemhomebecausehe usedtobebadshelaughed.WhenI camehomeItoldmygrammawhyI waslateandatsuppertimegrandpa said to me never never carry Joes books home. Let him do it. He must have talked to my uncle because Joe neveraskedmetotakehisbookshome again Things like that used to hap- penandyoudealtwithitrightaway. She said with parents more in touch with their kids and one an- other things never went out of hand like it does today. Ifeelsorryfortheteenagerstoday because they have to deal with so much she said. In Fort Smith we werent2600atthattimeandevery- body knew everybody. It didnt mat- terwhatnationalityyouwereyouall grew up together. There was no such thing. Thats how you were raised. She recalled Sister Sarrazin a teacher and a nun who ran a de- facto after school program for the teenagers at the time. Wedidnthaveroadsatthattime we didnt have TV we used to hang outwiththeCrusaderschurchstu Dragonsaid.Wehadanunthatused toteachhighschoolandwewouldgo overthereintheeveningfromsevento nine.Sheusedtocomeinandhelpus withwhatevereverydayoftheweek. Dragonwonderedaloudwhethera memberoftheFortSmithSeniorCiti- zensSocietywouldbewillingtoopen uptheirroomatthefrontofthetowns recreation centre and play a similar role for teens today. She said during her time as a counsellor she treated the children as if they were her own. Children should always turn to somebody before it gets too much she said. I dont know I havent been in the school for a while. They always turned to me and I talked to the other kid but I think now its dierent like I see it dierent. I nd even being with the FOXYs they have lots to deal with and they grow up too fast. I mean we didnt grow up too fast. I feel sorry for the teenagers today because they have to deal with so much. Jane Dragon Fort Smith elder Riders from Hay River and northern Alberta revved their engines and trekked all the way to the rst-ever Fort Smith Snow and Ice races held at Four Mile Lake Feb. 20-21. Snowmobiles 4x4s side-by-sides and dirt bikes tricked out with ice studs could be heard for miles around as they roared around the lake-top track. PhotoDaliCarmichael