Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 06/98) - About 150 students from Range Lake North school have been busy learning that the best education can sometimes take place outside the classroom.

Students in grades 5 through 8 have been taking part in an exploratory visits program that has taken them into workplaces and shops throughout the city.

Before Christmas, Grade 8 students were busy at Sir John Franklin high school where they spent more than an hour in the school's automotive shop, seeing the fascinating world of cars, first-hand.

"The one (visit) I enjoyed most was this one," 13-year-old Brian Sosiak said. "We got to do a lot of neat stuff... I like cars."

The program is headed up by Range Lake assistant principal, Adam Bunin.

"It's something new to our school," he said. "The goal of the program is to get our students to experience things they wouldn't normally be able to do in the classroom."

Under the leadership of Sir John automotive teacher Jay Pickering, the Range Lake crew spent an afternoon learning about computers and software which play an integral role in the automotive industry today. Then, they went into the shop for a closer look at vehicles.

So far this year, students have visited Canarctic Graphics, Polar Tech Sales and Service and Will Schablowski's K&W Cycle shop. The sessions were held Nov. 9, 18 and 30 and Dec. 8 and 16, Bunin said.

In the new year they'll again be offered another set of choices.