Getting Grande Prairie youth interested in history one project at a time. That’s the goal of the Peace Country Historical Society’s upcoming Northern Alberta Heritage Fair. Open to students in grades four to nine, Coordinator Daryl White says it’s like a science fair, but for Canadian history.
“The trifold board is tried and tested and is still the most common but we’ve had people dress up, we’ve had people essentially play characters, we’ve had people do videos, we’ve had them even perform dances as part of their presentation. It’s really the students sharing their passion and their research on Canadian History.”
The fair has been going on in the region for about 20 years now and they usually see around 50 to 60 students a year from as far away as Peace River.
White says the event gives participants the chance to research a wide range of topics and then learn about different topics from other students their age.
“Sometimes it’s their own family history…They look at questions like Indigenous history, sometimes it’s different ethnic groups in Canada, it’s major events… [And] sometimes it’s national heroes.”
The students are judged on their presentations and then prizes are handed out for the best family heritage presentation, best presentation relating to Indigenous history and for the presentation that makes the best use of material from the
South Peace Regional Archives.
While there are prizes, White says the main goal of the event is to get people interested in and excited about their country’s history at a young age.
“History and heritage are usually things people develop an interest in when they get older, but it’s good to encourage it in younger people as well.”
The event is free and open to the public. It will be held at Teresa Sargent Hall on May 2nd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.