Sole graduate in Ndilo hopes to return to community with carpentry skills

This story is a part of N.W.T. Graduates 2020, a CBC North special that showcases high school grads from across the territory. It airs live Thursday June 18 at 7 p.m., on CBC Radio One, on the website and on CBC NWT Facebook.

For students across the country, graduation is a moment when they might hope to snag their 15 minutes of fame — winning an award, drawing a laugh from the crowd or making a speech to all their friends.

But for Aaron Flunki-Mantla, graduating is a bit more of a lonely affair.

Flunki-Mantla is from Ndilo, N.W.T., a First Nation community adjacent to Yellowknife on the shores of Great Slave Lake. This year, he's the community's only high school graduate.

"It's really exciting, but sad, because I really wanted other people to join me, [and] feel this accomplishment," he said.

Ndilo's Kalemi Dene School, where Flunki-Mantla goes to school, has more than 100 students. But in an average year, somewhere between one and four students will graduate, according to Meagan Wowk, the school's principal.

Wowk, who taught Flunki-Mantla in kindergarten and again in Grades 4 and 5, said his work ethic is what saw him through.

"He's reliable and trustworthy, and he bangs it out until he gets it done," she said.

"There were some times I wouldn't get through some of my homework," said Flunki-Mantla, "and I would feel like just giving up and going home. But I pushed through it, and brought my A game."

Flunki-Mantla says he didn't make it across the finish line alone.

"I'm really glad I had the support I needed to get through school," he said, "to kick me out of bed."

Already, Flunki-Mantla is working with a local contractor, to train as a carpenter. He hopes to return to Ndilo and Kalemi Dene School someday to put those skills to use.

"I'm going to come back to this school, and probably work on a few things here and there," he said. "They're talking about building a gym, and I want to be a part of that, and part of this community."

For those who've watched Flunki-Mantla grow since he started at the school's Aboriginal Head Start program, his graduation is an emotional occasion.

"It's hard to believe that we're at this point," said Meagan Wowk, Kalemi Dene School's principal and Flunki-Mantla's former kindergarten teacher. "I know that he'll come back and visit, and I'll see him around town, but that he's about to go out into this big wide world and do all these amazing things."

"I am so grateful for being able to grow up with him, and to watch him grow up. He is really a wonderful individual," she said.

"It makes me feel proud," said Martha Flunki, Flunki-Mantla's mom. "It makes me feel proud of what he has accomplished."