Students delved into Canadian history and culture at École McIsaac School’s recent Heritage Fair.
“This is an opportunity for students to present a project of their choosing on the heritage of Canada,” said teacher and event organizer Susanne Westhaver. “They pick their projects in October, they research and this is the fruit of their labour.”
More than 100 Flin Flon students entered 69 projects, which filled the McIsaac gym on Wednesday, Feb. 1. The fair was open to students from grades 5 to 8.
“I love the Heritage Fair,” said student Erin Mansell, who presented a project at the fair. “It’s really fun and it’s a very different experience.”
Fourteen students were selected by a judging panel to represent the school at a provincial heritage fair in Winnipeg this May. Nine total projects earned awards, covering a variety of subjects.
Erin’s project on the Children’s Wish Foundation was among the winners.
After being diagnosed with cancer at age 7, Erin and her family enjoyed a trip to Florida through the foundation. Five years later, she is in remission and eager to teach her peers about the foundation.
Peyton Beauchamp and Nolan Rideout entered a project on Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip.
“We grew up listening to them because our dads were huge fans of theirs. They inspired us to do this,” said Peyton.
“We always heard about how they always talked about Canada and we wanted to talk about how they inspire Canada,” added Nolan. “I didn’t know that they had a lot of songs about Canadian history.”
Ken Baumgartner, the retired NHL enforcer who hails from Flin Flon, was the subject of a project by Baumgartner’s cousin, Joel Williams, and his friend Ethan Patterson.
“My mom brought up the idea of doing a project on him and my uncle gave us a big binder that we got information from,” said Joel. “We have articles here from 1985, hockey cards, everything.”
Eli Plamondon chose the Canadian crime drama Murdoch Mysteries as the subject of his project.
“I’m a huge fan of the show. It features a lot of Canadian historical events, like the Great Toronto Fire,” he said.
Karen Clark, a judge for the fair, was impressed by the range of projects.
“They’re all something the kids feel strongly about, things that interest this age group,” she said. “It’s exciting, because they’re linking up to what makes Canada great in a way that relates to them.”
A key aspect of the fair was to educate students in a way that conventional classroom time simply cannot do.
“One of the neat things about this is that the students are able to speak knowledgeably about their topic,” said Clark. “That will suit them well later in life, regardless of what they do.”
Westhaver concurs, adding that the fair teaches students individual skills.
“They’re learning time management, they’re learning research skills, they develop self-confidence through presenting,” she said. “It’s beyond what we can teach in the classroom, because it’s self-driven. It’s not coming from the teachers, it’s coming from themselves.”
