For students at the Prince Albert Collegiate Institute (PACI), Wednesday was a once-in-a-year opportunity.
The school hosted instructors in a number of disciplines to provide free workshops as part of the school’s 2017 Literacy Fair, which helps teach them skills they wouldn’t normally receive under the regular curriculum.
It’s a bit of a change from calculating sums and analyzing novels, and for most students, it’s an exciting one.
“It gives us a different experience than just going to your every day classes,” Grade 12 student Dustin Weenusk said. “Things you don’t learn in class, like this today where you learn marital arts, or you go do yoga or you go do CPR training in the gym, it’s very exciting for the students…. It gives us something to look forward to.”
“It brings people together and we all get to learn this one thing,” added Grade 10 student Ethan Cook. “We have fun doing it, and we just learn interesting stuff.”
This is the third time PACI has hosted this type of event. The first was put on roughly five years ago, and the school has held one every two years since.
Principal Dawne Adams said the goal is to help students acquire life skills they’ll need down the road, while giving them a safe environment to try out something new.