Colville Lake (May 23/05) - Art classes at the school here usually involve beadwork, but that all changed towards the end of April.

That's when principal Jo-Ellen Lyslo and her husband started teaching cross-stitching and how to make dreamcatchers to a dozen students, ranging from Grade 5 to 8.

Eleven-year-old Sunita Kochon said it's fun doing the cross-stitch project and she's happy to be learning how to sew.

"The only person in my family who knows how to sew is my Granny Kochon," she said. "Now I'll be able to sew with her."

Checking her e-mails may still be her favourite thing to do, but Kochon said cross-stitching - especially with the black thread - is good because you get to make something new.

Part of the problem with beading, Lyslo said, was that the boys didn't have a lot of interest in it.

"Everybody seems to really enjoy cross-stitch," she said.

"Even the boys, because they can do different patterns or their names and then use what they've made in the centre of their dreamcatchers."