News

Katherine Gilks, Education Coordinator

For the second year, Heritage Saskatchewan participated in the tradeshow at the Saskatchewan Home Based Educators Convention. This year, it was held in Saskatoon Feb. 19-20. Sunny had his first tradeshow experience and he was a big hit! Several children were disappointed that they couldn’t buy him. His call of “Whoo wants to learn?” definitely resonated with attendees of all ages.

The Heritage Fairs program is highly adaptable. Although traditionally run through classrooms in the schools, creating a Heritage Fairs project is a student-driven, family affair.  Each student selects a topic of Canadian heritage meaningful to them – often with a familial connection of some kind – and they research that topic, create their presentation, and prepare their display. Throughout the process, their teachers guide them, but they also have their family’s support: driving students to locations for research or photographs, helping sign forms for copyright issues, holding cameras, providing insight into a topic (sometimes serving as the inspiration for the project altogether), supporting the students through struggles and setbacks, helping with artistic aspects, and encouraging the students to take advantage of opportunities and do their best. Some students even start their research over the summer holidays!

While there is a timeline for Heritage Fairs, a project can be done at whatever pace the student and teacher need. It is conducive to different learning styles.  The fact that students get to select a topic that they have passion about inspires them to make the project their own. It is about learning, pushing limits, and above all, having fun telling a story that they have discovered.

In other words, a Heritage Fairs project is a perfect fit for homeschooling families. It was very clear at the convention that many families agreed with me and were interested in participating in 2017 and beyond.

Also, as part of Heritage Week 2016, three students who participated in the program last year spoke to their Heritage Fairs experience at the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation’s 25^th Anniversary reception. A common theme between all of them was that they had increased confidence speaking in front of audiences! They also acknowledged that their experience had built their communication and research skills for the future. Finally, they admitted that they had a lot of fun! While not every student gets the chance to participate at the Regional and Provincial levels, let alone the Young Citizens contest or winning a Provincial Award, the Heritage Fairs is a rewarding experience that builds citizenship awareness and most importantly, confidence in a student that they can create amazing work to teach us.