THUNDER BAY — Students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School had a chance to take in some new experiences as they continue to hit the ground running on this school year.
Students had the opportunity to pick from an array of workshops that were being held at the school on Friday ahead of Saturday's Wake the Giant music festival.
The available activities included t-shirt making with Superior Screen Printing, hoop dancing lessons with Mason Hoop Dancing Sisters, and baking lessons with a competitor from Top Chef Canada.
Students had the opportunity to sign up to get acting lessons from Kyle Nobess, who went viral for his TikTok videos and was picked up for a show by MuchMusic recently.
Nobess said he's grateful to be at the school and hosting the festival.
"I think more of the takeaways will just be the gratitude that it does for me as a person. Just to be able to see this type of event, the amount of work, again, the cause of it, the drive behind everyone's passion, what they're trying to do, bring the awareness."
"For me to see that already does a lot to my emotions, it inspires me to want to be better and to also bring awareness and to just keep moving forward in a positive way," Nobess said, " But to be the host and to be representing this on that level, it just, it's on a whole different level as far as appreciation and gratitude. I'm pumped."
One of the students at DFC, Breanne Meekis, was excited about the workshop with Nobess and about returning to the stage as a jingle dance performer.
"I'm nostalgic because I'm a graduate this year, and I know last year was it was kind of scary for me, but then the community made me feel very safe," she said.
Once the workshops were completed in the morning, students hopped on a bus for a guided tour of Thunder Bay to provide more context for students on where key places are, but it will also help familiarize them with how to get around the city.
Wake the Giant is a music festival aimed at celebrating all cultures with a focus on Indigenous artists and musicians.
