Wellness, Culture and Sport

New Brunswick youth in Victoria for National Histor!ca Heritage Fair (08/05/28)

NB 779

May 28, 2008

FREDERICTON (CNB) - The province will be represented at the National Histor!ca Heritage Fair in Victoria, B.C., from July 7-14 by 15 young New Brunswickers. Details were released today by Wellness, Culture and Sport Minister Hédard Albert, who is also minister responsible for the Francophonie.

(Multimedia)

"We are very proud of these young students, and hope they have a wonderful trip to British Columbia," Albert said. "Not only will they have the chance to exhibit their heritage projects in another province and raise awareness of New Brunswick culture, they will also make new friends from across Canada. It is an experience they will never forget."

The Heritage Fair program is a national education project developed to increase awareness and interest in Canadian history. In New Brunswick, the program is an initiative of the Heritage Branch of the Department of Wellness, Culture and Sport.

Every year the province encourages elementary, middle and high-school students from throughout New Brunswick to take part in the program. The majority of school-based fairs occur in February during Heritage Week, after which a group of students is selected from individual schools to participate at a Regional Heritage Fair, which is organized at school-district level. From these regional fairs, 15 students are selected (one per district) by committees of local judges.

The 15 young people who will be taking part this year are:

• Adèle Gaudet, École Sainte-Anne, Fredericton
• Micah Ritzhaupt, Shediac Cape School, Shediac Cape
• Marie-Ève Dufour, École élémentaire Sacré-Cœur, Grand Falls
• Roch Leblanc, École Arthur-Pinet, Eel River Crossing
• Brian Haddock, Rothesay Park School, Rothesay
• Andrew Johnson, Simonds High School, Saint John
• Lucille Doiron, École Terre-des-Jeunes, Paquetville
• Eugénie Girouard, École Donat-Robichaud, Cap-Pelé
• Samantha Howard, Perth-Andover Middle School, Perth-Andover
• Rory Duncan MacDonald, Florenceville Middle School, Florenceville
• Heidi Scott, Superior Middle School, Bathurst
• Catherine Thériault, Bonar Law Memorial School, Rexton
• Brittany Dugas, Cambridge-Narrows Community School, Cambridge-Narrows
• Kirsten Eagles. Albert Street Middle School, Fredericton
• Rebekah Ferris, Fundy Home Educators, Saint John

The group will be supervised by Gérald Kenny of Sainte-Rose, who will act as head of delegation. He will be assisted by chaperones Peter McGaw of Fredericton, Peter Wiggins of Sussex Corner, and Diane Volpé of Saint-Jacques. Marissa Slipp of Saint John will join the group as an alumni student.

The students' work will be exhibited in the main building of Metepenagiag Heritage Park until June 11, after which the projects will be sent to Victoria for the National Histor!ca Fair.

Support is provided by Histor!ca; the Historic Places Initiative; the departments of Education and Intergovernmental Affairs; the New Brunswick Museum; the Advisory Council on the Status of Women; the Council of Archives; the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages; and the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.

For more information on Heritage Fairs in New Brunswick, visit the Heritage Fairs 2008 website.

08/05/28

MEDIA CONTACT: Vicky Deschênes, communications, Wellness, Culture and Sport, 506-457-6445.

08/05/28