For immediate release

Lethbridge—The Galt Museum & Archives is offering back-to-school photos on October 2 for the 2020–2021 school year.

Parents and caregivers in southern Alberta have struggled to make difficult decisions about whether to have their children attend school in person, online or be homeschooled this school year. One of the highlights of students going back to school are school photos. These photos mark the growth and progress of students over the years. The Galt will be providing that opportunity since students learning from home, either virtually or through homeschooling, won’t get the opportunity to have a school photo.

“We know that more students than usual will not be learning in traditional classroom settings,” says Museum Educator Rebecca Wilde. “We wanted to extend the opportunity to have ‘school photos’ taken of these children since that is an annual marker that many would miss due to COVID-19. It has been a challenging year. Parents have made difficult decisions about the education of their children. We want to recognize that and hope that these photos may offer some sense of normalcy and familiarity.”

High-resolution photos suitable for printing will be emailed out to parents and caregivers. Parents and caregivers may also opt to allow the Galt to store the photos permanently in the archives.

“The Galt has been on the lookout for photographs and materials that will help record the ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives and our communities,” says Archivist Andrew Chernevych. “If parents and caregivers give us permission to store those photos in the archives, these ‘school photos’ would form a part of the historical record that will help future researchers, historians and curators tell the story of this moment in our community.”

These back-to-school photos can be booked online with donations accepted at the event. All donations will go to the Friends of the Galt Endowment Fund, which supports many programs and initiatives at the museum and fort.

“The Friends of the Galt Endowment Fund is important for the future sustainability of the museum and fort,” says Volunteer and Resource Development Coordinator Chris Roedler. “The fund helps sustain our world-class exhibits and programs. The donations that go to the fund will ensure that our work can continue for generations to come.”

“During this difficult time, the Galt is committed to supporting our community, as well as documenting and preserving this generational experience,” says CEO/ED Darrin J Martens. “We are opening this opportunity to all parents and caregivers and we hope that it will provide a unique memento of this unusual and trying year for families. We also hope that this will help us build the photographic record of this moment and increase our endowment fund to let us continue offering our services to the community far into the future.”

Spots need to be booked in advance to ensure physical distancing is possible between participating students and cohort groups. Book your spot at www.galtmuseum.com/events/back-to-school. Visitors to the Galt must wear masks while visiting the museum and will be encouraged to physically distance and wash or sanitize their hands frequently while visiting the museum to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Students will be allowed to briefly remove their masks while seated and taking the photos, and will be asked to put their masks back on before standing and exiting the museum. Staff and volunteers will sanitize high-touch and seating surfaces between booked groups.

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This media release can be found at www.galtmuseum.com/news.

Media Contacts

Graham Ruttan (he/him)
Marketing and Communications Officer
graham.ruttan@galtmuseum.com
403.320.4009