SUWILAAWKS STUDENTS put on a fashion show to raise money for school programs, but instead of walking the catwalk, they danced along to upbeat, fun songs Jan. 30.
"What an amazing feat to have the majority of our school perform live," said principal Pamela Kawinsky. "The students were excited and engaged."
Fine arts teacher Teresa Wraight helped the students with their dancing skills and songs were chosen with high energy, a great beat and most importantly, ones that the students connected to and were excited to learn, said Kawinsky.
Students wore clothes they had collected from the thrift store since September, and all of the fashions were on sale, for low, low prices with the expectation to sell most, if not all, of it.
The younger students who kicked off the show wore the school's "spirit" shirts: green shirts with a white wolverine scratch on the front, and blue choir shirts.
"All of the money raised from the sale of the 'new to you clothes' go right back into the school to support our 'extra' school initiatives," said Kawinsky. "Our weekly academies, our after school programs, our indoor playground and most importantly, our food programs."
Academy takes place on most Friday mornings where students get to choose an activity they would like to do, said Kawinsky.
Staff can connect with the students, share their own passions and enthusiasm and see smiles of the students, she said, adding that community members have come in to share their passions with students too.
They go off with academy advisors for an hour and so far have done cooking, knitting, plastercine art, watercolours, chorus, basketball, hockey, European handball, snowshoeing, Lego, chess, bowling, boomwhackers, photography, weaving, mask masking, crosstich, needlepoint, storytelling, pottery, card games, murals, a friends club and more, she said.
"It has been a great journey. [We're] discovering a lot of talents," she said.