When it comes to providing unique learning opportunities for students, Dene High School in La Loche certainly has style. Recently, Dene High School supported one of its graduates with a special project to earn credits toward high school graduation. Marken Laprise decided he wanted to create his own fashion line and showcase his designs in a fashion show.

“It’s what’s called a special credit project,” explained Dene High principal Randy Mallory. “As long as a student has a supervisor and spends 100 hours on a specific initiative, they can earn one of their high school credits this way.” The fashion show was emceed by Jazz Gailey while teachers such as Brock Hevenor took care of the sound and lighting. Laprise did all the rest of the coordination including sourcing for models, designing the invitation, designing all the clothes and sewing up all the fabric, and planning the logistics. Planning began back in October, finally culminating in the fashion show itself May 23.

“It’s wonderful when we are able to let kids showcase their talents in areas that might not be considered traditionally academic such as languages, math and science,” Malory continued. “The community really got behind Marken. He had a good showing and he worked really hard to gather all the models and to get all the sewing done.” Mallory went on to note special projects such as this are student-initiated and designed to encourage the pursuit of learning in an area of personal interest or passion. The content of the special project doesn’t need to be related to a specific school subject either. In this instance, Laprise learned time-management, event organizing, and project management skills on top of honing his own artistic skills at sewing and designing as well as incorporating indigenous influences and teachings in to fashion design. “Students who complete these special projects are totally able to pursue a passion, and isn’t that what school’s about?” Mallory said. “Finding something you love and going forward with it. It takes a lot of drive for a student to do these sorts of special projects. There’s a lot of work involved and they don’t really have somebody 100 per cent guiding them like they would in the classroom.”

Laprise, a resident of La Loche, has been a a self-made drag artiste since he was 13 years old. He has created and performed as Alexi Heights in various scenarios. He took on this project to extend his repertoire of skills to include sewing, fashion design and project management skills. “This experience was designed to empower queer youths to showcase their creativity and self expression without fear,” Laprise said. Dene High School is a Grade 7-12 school with an enrolment of approximately 600 students. “La Loche is a pretty awesome place and we’re proud to showcase one of our students,” Mallory concluded.