Grade 7s Travel Down South!

Post date: Jun 22, 2016 5:28:11 PM

This year, for the first time at MSS, we were able to take our grade 7s down south in Alberta to visit some historical landmarks. Our first stop was Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Center. Students learned about the sacred Buffalo Hunt, how important this tradition was to our First Nations people, how they used all parts of the buffalo to meet their basic needs, and how use of the land and this sacred animal changed as European settlers arrived in Alberta. The kids were fascinated by the various artifacts they were able to see and touch as well as by the stories from our incredible interpretive guides.

After this we moved on to Frank Slide Interpretive Center. Approaching this scene of such devastating beauty leaves me breathless every time I get to go to that area of our province. Our students were in awe as we approached the slide and were completely enthralled by the stories of the townspeople who were present on that fateful night over a hundred years ago. We experienced a hike through the rock and learned about all of the different contributing factors that lead to the slide. The students had had a long day and settled into their sleeping bags among the FSIC exhibits without hesitation.

The next morning we learned more about the stories... so many stories. Our students visited the Hillcrest Mine Disaster Memorial Cemetary where they learned about Canada's worst mining disaster where 189 men lost their lives on one fateful morning. They were given name tags so they could identify with real townspeople from that day and found out the stories behind whether they survived that day or not and researched the impact that event had on the small town by exploring the memorial site. We also got to experience what the coal mining life would have been like years ago by visiting the Bellevue Underground Mine. Students loved "gearing up" in mining gear and being guided 300m into the mine, learning about different safety measures that were put in place and how this industry contributed to the livelihood of people in the Crowsnest Pass.

I love getting to share Alberta's stories with my students. It was an incredible journey and I am so thrilled these kids got to experience this learning first-hand.