Regional heritage fair takes place Thursday

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Not only were the possibilities endless when it came time for students to select projects for their school heritage fairs this year, but so too was their enthusiasm.

Now that enthusiasm, along with their projects, will be on display at a regional heritage fair Thursday, May 1 at the NSCC Burridge Campus.

Public viewing is from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the closing ceremonies at 1:45 p.m. The regional fair, being put on by the Tri-County Regional School Board, is sponsored by the Historica Foundation.

The school board is calling the regional fair a celebration of the combined heritage of Yarmouth, Shelburne and Digby counties. To advance to the regional fair, participating schools have been holding their own fairs where projects have been judged.

This year saw more students and schools than ever participate.

“We are very thrilled,” says former teacher Gary Raymond who now works for the school board. “We’ve doubled the size for the heritage fair in the region and next year we hope to go beyond that…to give each school an opportunity to participate.”

For the students who advance to the regional fair, there are even more possibilities.

“Grades 4-6 participants are eligible, if chosen, to be the representatives for the provincial showcase in Halifax,” says Raymond. “And the Grade 7-9s, they’re eligible to qualify for the nationals which is in Victoria B.C., so two of the students at that heritage fair at Burridge are going to British Columbia.”

And while this is exciting, when you talk to the students they say the learning aspect of the heritage fair is just as appealing.

“I think they’re really exciting and they get people learning more about their families and everything else there is to learn about in Canada,” said Grade 9 Plymouth School

student Emma Dawe, who did her project on the Newfoundland tradition of mummering.

Students have different reasons for picking the projects they do. At Plymouth, which was one of a handful of new schools to become involve in the heritage fair this year, student Drake LeBlanc chose the Electric City in New France because he was fascinated by the subject, whereas Arissa Hattie focused on the Mi’kmaq culture because it’s part of her family heritage. Her cousin Courtney Hattie did a project on the Acadians, saying she thought the story of Evangeline and Gabriel to be sad, while students Ashley Williams and Shana Muise looked at the history of dance, something they have a personal interest in.

And on it goes.

Aside from learning about the subjects their pursued, the students pick up other valuable skills through participation in the heritage fair such as research, time management, and written and verbal presentation. They work on their projects in class and at home.