Kids were always taught not to throw paper airplanes in school, but this time, they were encouraged to!

In partnership with CAE, Grade 6 students in the Prairie South School Division went to Peacock Collegiate this past Thursday to learn more about flight and the mechanics of it. CAE is an educational partner with Peacock and they often team up for learning opportunities.

"What we've tried to do, especially our school division, we put a big emphasis on innovation and innovative learning and this is it," explained Dana Skoropad, Peacock's Vice Principal. "This is hands on, this is practical learning, it's a fun way to learn. I don't think they will ever forget, anyone in here, the day they came here to learn about flight."

CAE has been partnering with many groups in Moose Jaw, including the Warriors, to only to get know our city, but to also get the city to know CAE.

"So our mission for the company is to be the training partner of choice, but not only that, it's to be the neighbour of choice as well," said Maryse Carmichael, Community Relations and Business Development Manager for CAE. "You know and to be here and have good relationships and it's different now. 15 Wing is a military base, except for now, we have two hundred employees there so it's important for the community to know that and to know that it's an option to also work on the base."

As part of the grade 6 science curriculum, students learn about fight and the principles of it. Like Skoropad said, they gave students a hands on experience. They not only learned from Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Shauna Sinclair and John Humbert, but also from Major Retired Julian "Jules" Daintree.

After students learned about careers in flight and more about aviation, the real fun began as students prepared for a paper airplane competition. Around 230 students made their own paper airplane to be judged in two different categories - distance and aesthetic.

Students had thirty minutes to complete, design and test their planes at their "hangars." When the competition started, each school went individually, with the two students who threw their plane the farthest down the runway being selected for the finals.

In our photo galley below, you can see everything that went down during the competition and some of the throws in the video.