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The Puck Drops Here by Marnie StebnerIt’s springtime in Yellowknife,the time of year when thesnow begins to melt and sportsenthusiasts’ focus turns tohockey and the anticipationof Stanley Cup Playoffs. Thisseason, though, there have beensome equally exciting hockeygames taking place much closerto home. The moves aren’t asquick or as flashy and there areno million-dollar contracts beingsigned here, but the playersplay with grit and a level ofdetermination that would rival anypro. I’m talking about the recenthockey matches taking placebetween North Slave CorrectionalCentre staff and inmates. So farthis year, two intense matcheshave taken place on the ice, withthe inmates being victorious inthe first battle and staff evening itup in the rematch.It’s a scene reminiscent of themovie “The Longest Yard”,where a game of football isstaged between prison guardsand the inmates in their care.This is where the similaritiesend, though. In the movie, themotivation behind the game wasthe inmates’ revenge on theguards. The “goals” of NSCCmatches are much less sinister.Not only is it a chance for bothstaff and inmates to get out onthe ice and have some fun, italso provides an opportunity forthem to interact with one anotheroutside the formal setting of thejail. It becomes readily apparentfor anyone watching the gamethough that they are not onlyplaying for a win, they are alsoplaying for pride. There’s noquestion who the fan favouritesare - the inmates, of course.How is it that these match-upscame to be? Throughout theyear, the outside work crew madeup of inmates is tasked with,among other things, providingmaintenance services to theCity of Yellowknife. In return,the Correctional Centre is givenfree ice time twice a week fromOctober until April. Accompaniedby recreation staff, the inmatestake to the ice every Tuesdayand Thursday for a game ofshinny hockey. Recreationstaff can take up to 10 inmatesin any given session. All thatis required is for inmates tohave their “off grounds” status,meaning that they have alreadybeen sentenced and generallyhave served 1/10th of theirincarceration term. The inmates,through the Inmate Welfare Fund,purchase hockey equipment tosupport the activity.Led by their captain Herb Castle,Director of Corrections, thestarting line-up for the NorthSlave Correctional Centreteam this season has been (inalphabetical order, not by orderof importance or talent); DerekBran, Perry Campbell, JamieDall, Brad Dusome, RodneyGallant, Scott Galusha, CurtisGibeau, Jeff Round, Keith Scott,Joe Sheppard, Steve Versteeg,and David Pin. A special thankyouas well to Doug Hartford forrefereeing.As the hockey season draws to aclose, it looks like fans will haveto wait until next year to find outwho the winner is, though whenan event like this takes place itdoesn’t take much to see thateverybody wins.Supervisors SubCommitteeby Roy CourtoreilleOn April 6th & 7th 2006, agroup of supervisors andmanagers from the CorrectionsDivision met in Yellowknife. Therepresentatives involved stafffrom Adult, Youth and CommunityCorrections.Objectives for this group includedeveloping and monitoring theimplementation of a TerritorialCorrections Supervisors TrainingProgram that will support acareer path model for all staffin operational, administrativeand support roles. We will bedeveloping the curriculum andthe processes to support anew and committed program toenable staff to advance in theCorrections Service.Members of the Group are:NSYOF: Ryan StrainSMCC: Roy CourtoreilleRRCC: Grant PaziukTWCC: Brenda GauthierNSCC: Joe MacIntoshATYOF: Bev AverySMCC: Quinn GroenheydeHQ: Curtis DebogorskiIf you have any questions, pleasecontact the representative in yourfacility.HR Action PlanUpdatesNew Action PlanUpdate to be releasedJune 16, 2006.May 2006, Page 4
Time to Face the Musicby Shari EatonFrank Hopeis a hard-workingProbation Officer of three yearswho works with the CommunityCorrections, Intensive Supportand Supervision program. Hiswife Margaret works as a SeniorYouth Officer at Arctic TernYoung Offender Facility and hasalso been with Corrections forthree years. Frank mentionedto Margaret that he would liketo give back to the people as avolunteer. The next thing Frankknew, he was spending one nightevery week teaching femaleyoung offenders how to playguitar.“Volunteering is a way of givingback to the community and it’sa good feeling,” Frank says,smiling.Frank started playing guitarwhen he was 14 years old. Hegrew up surrounded by musicwith two older brothers: onea drummer, the other a guitarplayer and singer.“Music was all over the house,”says Frank. “My brother wouldsay ‘don’t touch my records,’ butwhen he left the house I wouldgrab The Rolling Stones and JimiHendrix. I would think, this is socool, it’s the best.” When Frankwas growing up, he yearned forhis older siblings to teach himsome of what they knew, but henever got very much. This is agift he feels he can give theseyoung women. He teaches themwith the hope that they canuse music as a tool to expressthemselves and as a comfort.“Music never talks back to you,”Frank says.Frank hashis own personal style inmusic. He plays and listens tomusic that he feels a connectionto. He likes what touches him, itdoesn’t matter the type of song.The latest song to touch Frank’sheartstrings is by Chester Nightand it is called Tekumsah. It isa song of resiliency and hope.Frank plays and listens to songsfrom the heart, because that iswhat is meaningful.He states that the youth atArctic Tern are eager and veryreceptive students. “When I gothere, I just be. I’m not there tobe authoritative or tell them whatto do, just let them be. Whenanyone starts playing, it is hardand it hurts. I like to watch andobserve these young womenknowing that each one of themcomes from somewhere, from adifferent family and a different setof circumstances. Learning musichelps to give them a chance torealize their potential.”So far, Frank has taught theseladies the five basic chords. “Youcan do a lot with five chords.When I was shown how to play,I was shown only three,” Franklaughs.He tells the story of one girl whosat on the side and watched theother girls learning and playing.She went over and joined thegroup and one of the youthasked her “do you want to try?”and she shrugged her shouldersand answered “why not”. Sheput her fingers in position andthe chords rang out clear eventhough it was her first timetrying. She seemed to be aMay 2006, Page 5natural. Very quietly she said,“He was supposed to teach me,but he was always drunk.” WhenFrank comes in, it shows theseyoung ladies what a positive malerole model looks like. For some ofthem, he is the first male they cantrust.When Frank was asked what’scoming next, he said “Rightnow I want them used to thechords forms, then I’ll teach themrhythm, and then I’ll teach themhow to take those two thingsand put them together to makea song.” He is currently learningmore theory and would just liketo continue his journey and be amore proficient musician. He findsmusic to be very therapeutic andgives him a place for expression.As a worker at ATYOF, I amfortunate to see the youthpracticing and growing musically.I have seen them play and singthe same song over and over10 times in a row and havegotten to see the look of prideon their faces when they get itperfectly the way they want andhave shared it with someone. Itis beautiful to see. The soundof a youth singing strong withconfidence, now THAT is music tothe ears!
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Page 7 and 8: PRED is onits wayby Roy KaiserThe P

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