Online Voting Open Until July 11 For Young Citizens Award Projects

Lethbridge - Five local and area students who participated in the May 3 Southern Alberta Regional Heritage Fair held at the Galt Museum & Archives were selected by the judges and fair committee to receive Canada’s History Young Citizens Awards; they are now looking for the public to participate in online voting until July 11 in support of their projects.

“Each was given a video camera to create a short video about their Heritage Fair topic,” says Belinda Crowson, Southern Alberta Regional Heritage Fair Coordinator. “You can watch and share the videos online and vote for your favourites - the students need your vote!”

Southern Alberta Young Citizens Award participants are:

• Tyler Wensman, Gr 5, Milk River Elementary, Milk River ~ Project: History of Farming in Canada

• Marissa Medema, Grade 8, F.P. Walshe, Fort Macleod ~ Project: Southern Alberta Agriculture

• Weston Lawrence, Grade 8, CAPE School, Redcliff ~ Project: CP Rail

• Will Kwan, Grade 5, Lakeview Elementary, Lethbridge ~ Project: Alberta’s 2013 Floods

• Julien Todd, Grade 5, Fleetwood Bawden Elementary, Lethbridge ~ Project: The Underground Railway

To find the videos, go to youngcitizens.ca and search for Southern Alberta Regional Heritage Fair or look for individual names. Voting ends July 11, 2014 at 11:59pm (Eastern Time).

The 2015 Southern Alberta Regional Heritage Fair will take place on Saturday, May 2. For more information, contact Belinda Crowson at belinda.crowson@galtmuseum.com or 403.320-4248.

Background

The Southern Alberta Regional Heritage Fair provides a chance for Grade 4-9 students from across southern Alberta to take any topic in Canadian history that interests them, discover more about it and then share it with others, including judges and the public. Participating schools representing six communities participated in the 19th annual fair: Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Milk River, Grassy Lake, Fort Macleod and the Blood Reserve.

The Young Citizens program focuses on citizenship and is a complementary component to Heritage Fairs, an annual event where students present the results of their research on Canadian heroes, legends and key events in Canadian history. Participants in Young Citizens make a short video about their heritage fair topic, much like an evening news report or short documentary. The student videos are posted online where family and friends can view and share the videos. The videos are reviewed by a panel of judges for a chance to win a trip to Ottawa to attend the Canada’s History Forum.

Canada's History, whose mission is to make the discovery of Canada’s past relevant, engaging, empowering and accessible to all Canadians, is one of two national charities devoted to the field of public history and the only one with a broad national membership base. It publishes Canada's History Magazine (formerly The Beaver) and Kayak: Canada's History Magazine for Kids. Its national awards and recognition programs celebrate the exemplary efforts of others working to preserve, promote and popularize Canadian history.