Students at Vincent Massey joined by Prime Minister

Students of a Winnipeg high school were joined by a guest who has a particular interest in Canadian history.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined a Canadian history class at Institut collégial Vincent Massey Collegiate (ICVMC) to ask the class about their experiences as a student during the pandemic.

Scott Place, a teacher at ICVMC, captured the event in a video for students.

"Grade Eleven was pretty much my favourite grade to teach because of the kind of questions, because of the kinds of engagement that you are having at this particular moment in your educational pathway in life," Trudeau says to the class over a video call.

The class's teacher, Chris Yard says the day was put together very quickly. The Canadian history class teacher was notified by his principal on Tuesday of the virtual visit.

"It was something that really came together quite quickly. Our principal, Ian Riffel, visited me on Tuesday and told me this was going to happen on Thursday. The division had contacted him and then he came and contacted me."

At 2:15 p.m., students in Yard's class were joined by the Prime Minister. Yard says the class consisted of half of his usual class in person and half of the class online, as they are split into two groups at this time. Yard says about 20 other eager students also joined in.

"They were very excited," Yard says.

Yard says the visit was an opportunity for Trudeau to check in with students.

"Three students had a chance to talk about what education is like for them right now and share some of their personal experiences during the pandemic."

Not only did the Prime Minister ask students questions, but students had the chance to do the same.

"We had some great students ask some great questions. The questions ranged from Indigenous rights to what the Prime Minister thought were the most critical issues facing Canadians today."

Students also asked if the current recovery plan for the country during the pandemic is sustainable, and about mental health supports currently in place.

Yard says they asked great questions.

"As a teacher, it was really unique and it was great to see engagements from the students. It really was a chance for them to get a sense of living through a historical event and being able to interact with the Prime Minister about that event."

Yard thinks the experience will help students engage more in class. The teacher hopes his students will remember the day well after high school.

He says it will be tough to top Thursday's Prime Minister visit for next year's class.