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Humboldt Public focusing on leadership, outdoor learning

Developing leaders is a major focus this year for Humboldt Public School.
Humboldt Public

Developing leaders is a major focus this year for Humboldt Public School.

“As many students as we possibly can will end up with leadership roles in the school,” said Clayton Parobec, the elementary school’s principal, “whether it be as simple as being the person that runs the attendance down to the office or even the person making the morning announcements.”

Making the announcements, for instance, is a way to teach students public speaking skills.

The students will also be expected to organize the school’s assemblies

“Usually with an assembly, the teachers plan it and the students help out with it, but we want it to be completely student driven,” Parobec said. “Having a student voice is a big piece and we want to make sure that they have opportunities to develop these skills.”

The principal said there’s a way to teach students as young as Kindergarten leadership skills that many learn later in life.

Because of the leadership focus, Parobec said if there are community organizations that need a few volunteers to help with an event, they should call the school.

New this year on the school grounds is a greenhouse, part of an effort to build an outdoor education space for the students. Over the last few years, the school has planted trees that are native to Saskatchewan, as well as flowers in raised flowerbeds.

“The purpose of these is for stuff like science,” Parobec said, adding it’s a supplement to what students are reading in the textbooks. “This way the students can physically just go outside onto our playground and interact and see firsthand what the differences are and get some hands-on experience.”

The greenhouse will be used to grow plants and vegetables, which the school plans to use for its snack program.

“If we can start to have the students involved in growing their own snacks right at school, how powerful is that?”

The student population remains steady at around 300. The staff is also seeing few changes, with one new teacher, Jill Dyck, teaching Grades 4 and 5.