St. Thomas Aquinas's students ran through plumes of colour on Wednesday as part of the Colour Run fundraiser. The run was organized by Leia Dufresne, Alyson Stoliker and Cambrya Swejda for their Grade 11 leadership class.
"We had to plan the route, promote it, speak with the students, prep the paint and put it in bottles so it could be thrown on students during the race," said Swejda. "There's a lot of work that gets put into planning events like this, so it was a great learning experience."
Students paid a toonie to participate in the run which started on the field, wound through the trails behind the school and finished on the front steps. All of the money raised will go to It's a Dog's Life. The colour run followed another fundraiser called Popsicles for Puppies, which was organized by classmate Natalina Reynard on Tuesday.
Stoliker spoke about why they chose to organize a colour run for their event.
"This helps get people involved in school activities and lets students in different grades do something together. It also gets everyone moving and active which is an important part of a healthy lifestyle," she said.
Becka Valentini teaches the Grade 11 leadership class. She spoke more about the class's initiatives in the school.
"The kids run events in our school throughout the year that promote positive change. These three girls decided to do the colour run. They wanted to host something that is for everyone. It doesn't matter what your pace is. It's something you can do with your friends and you're having a good time along the way," she said.
At the end of the race dozens of colourful students gathered together on the front steps of St. Thomas Aquinas to enjoy their finish-line freezies.