William Morton Collegiate Institute in Gladstone held their annual Race Day yesterday.

Race Day showcases the items the students created in their Industrial Arts class during the school year, including barbecues, mini bikes and go-carts. WMCI IA teacher Wilf Lehmann explains the students are put into small groups and have to design their projects from the ground up.

"They design it together, they have to meld their ideas. Then they have to go ahead and get this thing from paper to actually going down the field. There are a lot of problems along the way, a lot of problem solving, [...] but the end goal is to get the thing out there for Race Day," says Lehmann, adding it really is a team-building exercise.

The charcoal grills, built by the grade ten students, were used to cook the hamburgers served at lunch. While the mini bikes and go-carts, built by the grade eleven and twelve students, were driven in a race down the soccer field.

Garrett Gall (left) and Erik Sigurdson (right) pose with their go-cart.Grade twelve students Erik Sigurdson and Garrett Gall's go-cart was the race champion this year and Sigurdson notes it feels good to have won. Gall says the stakes were high for them as they were on the team with the winning mini bike last year as well. He explains their design likely contributed to their victory.

"We decided to build a three-wheeled bike instead of the traditional four-wheeled one," explains Gall. "That was probably our strong point; being a bit lighter with less material used."

Lehmann says this year's race went really well despite a few mechanical issues, which he notes were to be expected.

"It happens every year," explains Lehmann, "and that's part of racing. You think you're ready for Race Day, Race Day comes: problems. Then the work begins."

He adds all the hassles and headaches are worth it in the end.

"I have yet to see a kid that's done their barbeque, or take their cart for a ride or their mini bike for a ride, not come in with a smile on their face," says Lehmann. He notes Race Day becomes a bigger event each year and is even anticipated by students in the elementary schools.

Race Day sees a lot of support from the community with families, friends and other schools in the division heading over to WMCI for the day to take part in the activities. WMCI librarian Stacey Gowan helped organize Race Day and she notes they invite out students from the local elementary school as well as the Plumas, Langruth, and surrounding colony schools.

"It's just a fun way to end the year," says Gowan.

In addition to the barbeque and the races, the day also featured a pie toss, bouncy castles, face painting and a giant Slip 'N' Slide for the high school students.

"Right after Race Day we do a The Splash 'N' Dash, it's kind of our tradition," explains Gowan. "We lay down a huge tarp. They have soap on the tarp, they have water and different water toys as well." She adds they then invite out their local fire truck which sprays water onto the tarp. "The fire truck, the kids absolutely love it, they spray water and they get wet, especially on hot days [like yesterday]."