PARTY Time

The Grade 9 class had a special treat on Friday, May 8 - a PARTY. This one, however, did not include any cake and ice cream. PARTY stands for "Preventing Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth". Early Friday morning (before regular classes even!) students boarded a bus bound for Meadow Lake Health Centre with a quick stop in Goodsoil to pick up their Grade 12s. The program was an incredible hands-on experience for all schools that attended. After a short attention-grabbing video and introduction, we were in our own group and off to the first of many stations.

The addictions counsellors had a game set up that simulated becoming intoxicated at a party - the goggles created this illusion very well! In the ambulance bay, students were strapping their friends to spine boards. The RCMP officer let a few sit in handcuffs as he informed us of drunk driving laws and consequences. Students sampled charcoal for overdoses in the ER.

The rehabilitation session had students struggling with simple tasks like rolling over but perhaps the most entertaining was the "dinner with a disability" where students were bandaged up or could only eat with a straw. Unwrapping a container became a major challenge. Dinner ended with a presentation from a car crash survivor who has to deal with these obstacles to living on a daily basis. The last session of the day was a sombre one - a visit to a funeral home. Overall, it was a very positive message as they refrained from using the word "don't". The message was mostly to make informed, safe decisions. Another word banned was "accident" as injuries are mostly caused by poor choices.

Wake-a-thon

On May 1, 2009, several students from grades 6 to 12 attended a Wake-a-thon raising both money and awareness of human rights issues for children across the world. Students raised $1700 for the "privilege" of staying at school from Friday at 8pm until Saturday at 8am. The money raised went to "Free the Children", an organization founded by Craig Kielburger with its purpose to free children from poverty and exploitation while inspiring youth to become socially conscious global citizens and agents for change around the world. We certainly see that happening at PCS with one young lady and her friends who both initiated and organized this Wake-a-thon. Students participated in a variety of activities including pudding eating contests, watching movies, playing "Rockband" and shooting hoops. As you can see from the photos, they had a great time staying up all night. Now if we can only get them to stay awake during class! For more information on "Free the Children" and how you can help, check out http://www.freethechildren.com/

Effort and Passion

It's about putting effort and passion into your interests Canadian Idol judge, Farley Flex told Pierceland students on Thursday referring to success. Success to him is happiness, not necessarily money. His own energy and passion was obvious as he talked with elementary students first and high school second. His discussion with students included how to become an expert at something - 10000 hours is what it takes according to Flex. He encouraged students to think about three things that interest them and pursue those. "Find a mentor, find out what he/she did to get where he/she is, and do exactly the same thing."

Several brave elementary students came up to sing as Flex and the crowd encouraged them on. Although the number of performers was lower from the high school group, the talent was incredible.