For government-sponsored Syrian refugees coming to Canada, there are two points of entry: Toronto and Montreal. For those coming here only to leave for another province, it can take weeks before they set out toward their permanent homes.

James Watts, principal of Edplus High School in St. Laurent, got word that some refugees were staying at hotels near Trudeau Airport. He decided to bring his students to spend an afternoon with them doing activities like playing soccer.

“That was one of my highlights, looking at the little boys’ faces as their dads were playing soccer and realizing that their dads were happy,” he said.

Since December, more than 4,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Quebec.Most are privately sponsored, and those who aren't are sponsored by the government. They can spend up to 24 hours in a hotel if their final destination is a city in Quebec other than Montreal, the federal immigration and refugee ministry but says it’s not uncommon for those heading elsewhere to wait much longer.

Watts said he decided to bring the students to meet the refugees because he felt there wasn't enough of a routine for the Syrians.

“What we saw with the kids is they have such an appetite for learning. They wanted to be active. They were so keen.”

The students also enjoyed the experience.

“Just to see their faces light up and see different people actually around, talking to them, you could just see how they were so interested and excited and it made me feel so good,” said student Meagan Goth.

“We were teaching them how to say thank you and merci so they like taught us the word "shukran". I think that means thank you,” said fellow student August Darey.

The Red Cross is coordinating the refugees’ stays at local hotels, but the structured activities only started this past week. It's taken so long to organize because the need wasn't really there until recently, when more children started coming in.

“Children obviously need to run around and have activities,” saidDonny Straub, who works in disaster management for the Red Cross.

“The goal is to have something to do every day.”

For the class at Edplus High, the experience is one they'll never forget. Their goal now is to keep up their efforts to help and also make sure a classroom they recently painted gets used – the school raised $10,000 to help sponsor future Syrian students.