M’CHIGEENG— Winners of the Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute Heritage Fair, Jermaine Jacko and Darci Debassige of Lakeview School, were invited to attend the Ontario Provincial Heritage Fair at the University of Toronto recently. While Darci could not make the prestigious event, Jermaine attended along with 70 other students from Grades 4 to 8 from across the province.
The 2015 Ontario Provincial Heritage Fair brings together 70 exceptional students from Grades 4 to 8 along with their adult supervisors to share in a celebration of Ontario’s rich multi-cultural history and heritage.
Jarmaine’s project was on ‘Traditional Harvesting,’ an integral part of Native tradition. Jarmaine looked at how the methods have changed significantly over time with respect to large game, fishing and trapping and tried to give the audience a look at some of these techniques and how the animals were used.
The Ontario Heritage Fairs program is a volunteer initiative based on the belief that engaging children in the history of their communities helps them develop into responsible, well-informed citizens. Aimed at students aged 9 to 15, the Fairs inspire young people to explore personal and collective Canadian experiences in any number of media – displays, painting, sculpture, prose, music or computer-based projects. The delegates at the Provincial Fair represent the more than 20,000 Ontario students who participated in the 2014 fairs program.
This year’s fair was made possible due to the generous financial support of: Canada’s History and it partners, Canadian Heritage and Great West Life; Ontario Power Generation; the Ontario History and Geography Consultants’ Association; the Ontario History and Social Science Teachers’ Association; Grandmother’s Bake Shoppe and a number of individual donors.
