Education Report for AGM in Granby: August 12, 2011
I’ve been asked by the BOD to act as Interim National Education Coordinator – the chief purpose being to help facilitate the sharing of information that would be helpful to every region across the country through the 6 Regional Education Chairs. It was thought that this would be one way to make the most of our opportunities to get the Hong Kong story out to educators, students and the general public.
Each Region does things differently, and comes up with good ideas and projects that many across the country never hear about. One of the most recent efforts which has gained a lot of attention is the Atlantic Region’s strong initiative relative to recognizing Gander for the hero he was by having a statue in the Belledune, NB area dedicated to him, and acknowledging what he did to protect the wounded soldiers in the Battle of HK at the risk of his own life. For some members of the public, knowing his unique story through workshops and presentations, is the beginning of knowing about the soldiers who fought at Hong Kong.
In several areas of the country, we have found a second way in which to reach out to Canadians. What we call the HKVCA Cross Canada Writing Contest has been in operation for just two years, and involves students who choose one of five veterans from the Personal Stories section of our Website whose stories are being used in the current year. Students are asked to react to what they have learned about the veteran’s experience, and to adapt his story in a way that shows how well he or she can relate to what the soldier has gone through.
It was decided from the beginning that the copies of the Writing Contest e-mailed to Ministries of Education, School boards, and other related education institutions across the country would be sent in both French and English. As a bilingual country with French language instruction in every province and territory from one coast to the other, it seemed the logical things to do, particularly when the background of soldiers who fought in Hong Kong was around 40% French-speaking.
The first year, when the entries began to come in, we realized that we had a problem. Although the Contest information was in both languages, anyone wanting to read the veterans’ stories had to do so in English. Nevertheless, quite a number of students, particularly in schools where French Immersion was taught, did respond to the Contest information in French, and submit entries in French.
This last year Ontario decided to try having four of the veterans’ stories translated to make it easier for some of the French-speaking students to take part. We quickly discovered that Professional translation is very expensive but necessary to do the job right. We couldn’t afford five veterans’ stories, but we did manage four, and two of the four were translated in time to be used in the second Writing Contest which ended in May of this year. What the Judges noticed when marking the papers was that the quality of the writing from those who chose to enter on the French side was much better than it had been in the previous Contest.
Since the cost of those four stories was $2500. we knew that we would have difficulty trying to take the next step which was to have all five stories translated for the coming Writing Contest which opens this September.
We did decide which 5 stories would be considered, and got in touch with our Professional translator only to find that the cost for translating all five was $4,140. Recognizing that we weren’t able to finance this on our own, we approached the BOD about helping us out with this expense, with the understanding that the use of five totally-translated veterans’ stories would appeal to more of the students in French Immersion, as well as French-as-a-First-Language schools across the country. The BOD voted in favour of this initiative at their last meeting on July 21st, and we do thank Board members for their support.
We will know whether this approach has made a significant difference when we get this year’s results, after the Third Edition of the Writing Contest. Since some schools don’t deal with WWII and Hong Kong till nearly the end of the school year our deadline for entries will be May 25, 2012.
We have assured the Board of Directors that we intend to look at other sources of funding for any additional expenditures beyond that point. The Board has also suggested that they are in favour of making the Teachers’ Zone as user-friendly as possible for those who study history in French. To make this a reality, we need member support not only from across the country, but particularly from French-speaking members in Quebec and other areas where the French language is dominant. There are three specific areas where we need help: those who can write letters or make phone calls in French, those with a background at the College level able to mark Contest entries at the Senior level, and those who would be comfortable translating resource material already in the Teachers’ Zone to French. We have just recently had Gail Angel from the Ottawa area offer to “lead the charge” as the newly-named “Translation Project Coordinator”. Gail is here this morning and would be happy to have you connect with her about being involved. Don’t hesitate to chat with me either if you are interested.
This is not just an Ontario project, although we do look after the prize money which has amounted to $750. each year so far. Winners have come from BC, Alberta and Ontario, and other provinces will surely follow if there is the right sort of promotion in our different Regions.
Just to give you an idea of what imaginative, creative student work has been evident this year, I’ve brought the winning entries at both Junior and Senior levels to Salon 5 so that you can see what ideas have come from our young people. It’s really quite amazing! I thought I would close my report by reading a “thank you” from one of the winners whose work is there.
(Madison Burnett-won first prize in the Junior French Category- She is from Port Perry High School in Ontario. She has written her reply in English.)
“Thank you so much for selecting my entry in the HKVCA Writing Contest. Learning about the struggles and conditions that so many Canadians endured was eye-opening. All the sacrifices that these brave men and women made should never be forgotten.”
Pat Turcotte Interim National Education Coordinator