Tradex hosted 156 students and 143 displays as the 17th annual Fraser Valley Regional Heritage Fair took place April 9-10.
Seven students from Agassiz Christian School participated in the fair, with Josh Bruneski winning the award for Outstanding People and/or Events. Other students who participated were Naomi Gouwenberg, Megan Post, Nicole Schultz, Brad Van Oort, Tyler Van Oort and Kaeden Van Oort.
Students from Kent elementary also participated, with Katie Schram winning in Arts, Literature and Music for a project called Canadians in Silent Films.
Kent student Hailey Keating won the Transportation and Communication award for the project titled S. S. Edmund Fitzgerald.
Taylor Borle won the Young Rotarian award for the project, The Cariboo Gold Rush and Ashlyn Lowe, also from Kent Elementary, won the Provincial Capital Commission Award for the project called The Empress Hotel.
The event, sponsored by the MSA Museum Society, had students choose projects that reflect some aspect of Canadian history. The projects were then judged on their display, oral presentation and the students’ ability to share what they have learned.
The students are from schools in Agassiz, Hope, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Mission, Langley, and Surrey.
Cindy Rowell, coordinator of the Fraser Valley Regional Heritage Fair, called this year’s turnout “awesome.”
“We probably had about 1,500 students within the Fraser Valley compete within their school level fairs and the top students have come out to this regional event,” she said.
The Regional Heritage Fair is part of a national initiative to encourage youth to celebrate Canada’s history and heritage.
Rowell said five students will be chosen to move on to represent their school and the Fraser Valley region at the Provincial Heritage Fair being held on July 4-8 in Victoria.
Those five students will be announced in the coming weeks.
"We also get to nominate a student for the Lieutenant Governor's Award," said Rowell.
That student will represent the Fraser Valley against students from each of the remaining 11 areas in the province, for the award.
– with files from the Abbotsford News