Virtual Heritage Fair Process
No, this is not Heritage Saskatchewan’s intention as of 2024. For 2024, the Virtual Heritage Fair will take place alongside the Regional Heritage Fairs, all of which will send finalists to the Provincial Heritage Fair. Essentially, the Virtual Heritage Fair is another "regional" Heritage Fair for all students in Saskatchewan.
The Virtual Heritage Fair will be integrated into the existing Heritage Fairs program as an alternative and complement to the in-person Regional Fairs. The Virtual Heritage Fair emphasises slightly different skills than the in-person events and it also allows for more students to participate; therefore, Heritage Saskatchewan intends to continue it.
The Virtual Heritage Fair is province-wide. Anyone in grades 4-8 in Saskatchewan can participate, whether independently or as part of a class. It is considered a "regional level" contest, however, so some students will advance to the Provincial Heritage Fair, alongside finalists from any in-person Regional Fairs.
In 2020 & 2021, the VHF replaced both the Regional Fairs and Provincial Fair. In 2022, the VHF replaced the Regional Fairs and some students advanced to an in-person Provincial Heritage Fair. As of 2023, the VHF is a "regional" level Heritage Fair that remains province-wide in scope.
Note: Any national contests, such as the Young Citizens Contest or Kayak Illustrated History, are separate contests offered by Canada’s History Society.
Yes, students can participate in both the online and in-person Heritage Fairs.
1. Students who qualify for the Regional Fair through their school can participate in both contests, but their in-person performances at the Regional Fair will be prioritised for awards and advancing to the Provincial Fair.
2. Students who do not qualify for the Regional Fair through their school can submit a virtual version of their project to the Virtual Fair.
Yes, any student in Saskatchewan in Grades 4 through 8 can submit their Heritage Fair project to the Virtual Heritage Fair. (Teachers can choose to submit projects from every student in their class if students are willing to participate.)
Often, a school can only send two or three projects to the Regionals Fairs; the Virtual Heritage Fair is an opportunity to share more projects from one's school or community.
Yes. Any student in grades 4-8 in Saskatchewan can submit a project to the Virtual Heritage Fair.
Students do not need to register in advance for the Virtual Heritage Fair as long as they submit their project before the submission deadline (April 24 in 2024).
If teachers intend for their students to participate in both the Regional and Virtual Heritage Fairs, they need to register by March 4, 2024.
Teacher registration is a declaration of intent to participate.
For the Regional Fairs, teacher registration is required because Heritage Saskatchewan and the local planning committees need to determine how many projects from each school get to advance to the Regional Fair, as well as general planning purposes.
For the Virtual Fair, teacher registration helps Heritage Saskatchewan plan the event and keep track of which schools are participating. If we know that someone (a teacher, parent, or student) has registered, we can provide better follow-up and track down any projects lost in cyberspace. Having a rough estimate of how many projects to expect will also assist Heritage Saskatchewan in our planning.
Registering for the Virtual Fair in advance is not required for 2024.
No, not all students in a registered class have to submit their projects to the Virtual Heritage Fair.
No. All that is required is that the student submit their project by the submission deadline.
Students (or their teacher/parent/guardian) are encouraged to register in advance so that Heritage Saskatchewan will be on the lookout for their project.
Yes, students who change schools during the school year can still participate in the Virtual Heritage Fair. They can identify with either school or both schools.
Students who move out of province during the school year can still participate in the Virtual Heritage Fair for that same school year only. For example, a student who moves in February 2024 can compete in the 2024 Virtual Heritage Fair, but would not be eligible to participate in the 2025 Virtual Heritage Fair unless they moved back to Saskatchewan.
Yes, students can work together in partners. For the Virtual Heritage Fair, students can partner with students from another class or even another school.
Yes, students can be in groups of more than two students for the Virtual Heritage Fair.
If a project by students in a groups of three or four is selected for the Provincial Fair, they are also eligible to attend that event as a group.
Projects by groups of more than four students (such as a class project) can participate in the Virtual Fair, including being eligible for awards at that level, but are ineligible to advance to the Provincial Heritage Fair.
Variable:
Grades 1-3: If they are paired with a student in grades 4-8, they are eligible to participate fully.
Grade 3 (if they are part of a split 3/4 class): Can participate fully even if they are not paired with an older student, but will be judged alongside grade 4 students.
Grades 1, 2, & 3 (not part of a split 3/4 class): If they create a project for school, they can submit it to be showcased (i.e. not be judged or eligible for awards). Students would still be recognised as participating.
Grade 9: If they are paired with a student in grades 4-8, they are eligible to participate fully. A grade 8/9 pairing could instead submit their project to the High School Challenge. A grade 9 student creating a solo project must submit it to the High School Heritage Challenge.
Grades 10, 11, & 12: Cannot participate in the Virtual Heritage Fair, but are welcome to participate in the High School Heritage Challenge.
Yes, students in Grade 3 can submit projects that they do by themselves, especially if they are part of a Grade 3/4 split class. They will be judged alongside the Grade 4 students. The focus of their participation will be mainly about getting the experience of doing a project, which will serve them well if they are able to participate in later years. However, they are eligible for awards and to advance to the Provincial Fair.
A Grade 9 student should submit their project to the High School Heritage Challenge, even if they are in a class with younger students.
However, Grade 9 students who are creating individual projects alongside younger classmates can submit their projects to be showcased virtually. They would be eligible for Virtual Fair awards but ineligible to advance to the Provincial Fair.
Projects by students younger than Grade 3 would be showcased only, unless they are part of a partnership or small group with students in eligible grades (such as older siblings).
Projects by students in grades 10, 11, and 12 must be submitted to the High School Heritage Challenge.
Split-grade projects are evaluated based on the grade of the oldest student regardless of the age gap between them, unless there is a specific reason to evaluate them at a lower level (which would be determined on a case-by-case basis), or at the Grade 8 level if the oldest student is in Grade 9.
The grade level of a trio or quartet is evaluated at the level of the oldest student, though there may be exceptions on case-by-case basis.
Note: Groups containing more than one Grade 9 student must submit their projects to the High School Heritage Challenge.
Projects for the Virtual Heritage Fair will be accepted in any language. Projects can also be bilingual or multi-lingual. For projects that are not in English, the student should submit an English version of the title and a short (one-sentence) description of the topic. This will help Heritage Saskatchewan promote the project.
If a teacher knows in advance that they will be submitting projects in a language other than English, they should contact Heritage Saskatchewan to indicate this, as it helps Heritage Saskatchewan plan for judge recruitment. Without prior notice, Heritage Saskatchewan cannot guarantee that a project in a language other than English or French will be judged fairly.
All projects will be showcased. All students who submit a project will receive a Certificate of Recognition. However, projects must be judged in order to be eligible for awards or advancing to the Provincial Fair.
No, there are five categories (Photo; Written; Mixed Non-video; Video; and Creative). Only those in the Video Presentation category must include a video.
No, projects in the Written Presentation or Creative Presentation categories do not need to include photos. However, a photo of some kind (such as of a title page) is helpful.
No, students can submit different types of projects from their classmates.
Each project is evaluated by three* judges. Judges work with what is presented to them and cannot ask questions directly (this is the biggest difference between the virtual and in-person Heritage Fairs). Judges are looking for the students’ skills is three equally-weighted areas: “Creativity/Presentation”; “Research/Historical Thinking”; and “Communication”.
*The scores from all judges are averaged for a final score.
Judges compare projects that are presented in the same/similar medium to each other, but they do not compare projects that are presented in different mediums.
Separate judges look for projects that qualify for specific awards/prizes and give recommendations (rather than evaluate based on the rubric as outlined above). A small committee from Heritage Saskatchewan makes a final selection, considering the students’ scores. Difference in presentation media (i.e. written vs. video) is taken into account.
Yes. For 2021 and beyond, Heritage Saskatchewan has been using the same process to determine awards for the Virtual Fair as at the in-person Regional Fairs.
Both the judges' scores and the award criteria are used to determine award winners.
Heritage Saskatchewan bases the awards on the categories already in existence for the Regional Fairs. The Virtual Fair Prizes are based on the entries themselves (i.e. including a “Best Animal Display” category in 2020 once we realised how many projects we had that included animals).
As the Regional Fairs resume, the awards offered at the Virtual Fair will balance out to reflect that it is at the same level. There will be only one winner per category (with the possibility of a tie in exceptional circumstances). The Virtual Fair Prizes will continue separately.
- Essentially, the Virtual Heritage Fair is another "regional" level event. The 2024 Virtual Heritage Fair will include awards from the Regional Fairs (the Topical & Methodological Awards) and their own prizes. There will also be a Top Three (or Top Tive, depending on number of entries) in each of the five submission categories. The highest-scoring projects* will be selected as finalists for the Provincial Fair.
- The 2024 Regional Heritage Fairs will include the Topical & Methodological Awards offered by Heritage Saskatchewan and local awards offered by the organising committee/local sponsors (if applicable). The highest-scoring projects* will be selected as finalists for the Provincial Fair.
- The Provincial Fair will include the Top Ten & the six bursary awards (Archives; Historical Thinking; Digital Media; Innovation; Family History [sponsored by the SK Genealogical Society]; and the annually-changing commemorative award).
- Each contest will each have a Top Score & Runner-up Score
*The number of projects to be selected from each contest as Provincial finalists has yet to be determined as of December 2023.
They can compete as many times as they want until they have aged out.
Absolutely! There are no limits to how many Heritage Fair awards a student can earn.
For students who participate in Heritage Fairs for multiple years, each year is an opportunity to explore a new topic, learn/hone skills, and share another story. Students should be rewarded for their work and their passion for heritage. They also should have the opportunity to improve their score from previous years (or try to earn another award, which is not easy).
Students can use different skills for the Virtual Heritage Fair than for the in-person Heritage Fairs. The aim of the Virtual Fair is to be inclusive and to provide the opportunity for any student in Saskatchewan to participate; it also aims to share the students' projects with a wider audience, and that should include some of the excellent projects that come to the Regional Fair.
A student's performance at the in-person Regional Fair will be prioritised over their performance in the Virtual Fair on the question of eligibility for the Provincial Fair and the Regional Fair-level awards.
Yes, but this is no different than a student having the highest score at the in-person Regional Fair and also having the highest score at the Provincial Fair.
While the Top Score & Runner-up Score are singled out for an extra prize and recognition, all award winners and Top Projects (at the Virtual Fair & Regional Fairs) and all award winners and Top Ten (at the Provincial Fair) are considered to be collectively winners.
The variety of acceptable projects gives teachers more flexibility in how they want to incorporate Heritage Fairs into their classrooms and it gives students more opportunities to showcase their skills. Dividing the projects into different categories will ensure that video projects are compared to video projects, written projects are compared to written projects, etc.
The flexibility reflects how we want the program to be more inclusive and reflect community needs. We want Heritage Fairs to fit into the lesson, not have the lesson fit into Heritage Fairs. From a practical perspective, we have more space virtually to accommodate small groups and grades on the edge of eligibility, whereas the in-person events are limited by room capacity, food budget, time constraints, etc.
Teachers need to provide support for their students: introduce them to the topics, guide them in their research, etc. They need to assist their students with submitting their projects before the deadline. It is ultimately up to the teacher how much they want to be involved. Teachers can also promote the Virtual Heritage Fair in their school/community.
Teachers also should register online or by email with Heritage Saskatchewan.
Yes, as long as the students submit their projects by the deadline, they can take part in the Virtual Fair.
Teachers are still encouraged to register their classes so that Heritage Saskatchewan can estimate the number of students participating.
No - all decisions made at each Heritage Fair, including the Virtual Heritage Fair, are final. Heritage Saskatchewan must trust the judges’ evaluations, especially as the judges do so remotely. Every effort is made to ensure a fair and equitable judging process.
Teachers, parents, or judges can discuss an issue of unfairness (actual or perceived) with Heritage Saskatchewan to make recommendations for future years. If necessary, an official apology to the student will be issued.
Award winners are determined with great care and attention. Representation of participating schools is one of the many factors taken into consideration, but students’ scores and the content of students’ presentations (as well as the criteria for each award) are given more weight. The last thing anyone wants is for a student to feel that they won their award due to tokenism rather than merit.
There is no intention on the part of anyone to favour or discriminate against particular schools.
Particularly for projects in French or in Indigenous languages, the pool of available judges may be limited. Having met a child previously, or being acquainted with their parents, is not automatically a conflict of interest.
Judges cannot evaluate projects by:
- their children/grandchildren
- their current students
- their nieces/nephews
- children of friends/close colleagues
- students from the school that they teach at
- students who are classmates/friends of their children
- anyone that they have personally assisted with their project
Judges are required to declare their conflicts of interest. Judges can also request to be re-assigned if they were unaware of a conflict of interest when they initially volunteered.
Particularly for projects in French or in Indigenous languages, the pool of available judges may be limited. Having met a child previously, or being acquainted with their parents, is not automatically a conflict of interest.
Judges can evaluate projects by:
- students that they have formerly taught, as long as the students no longer attend the same school that the judges are currently teaching at and at least two years have passed since they taught them
- students who attend a school that their child(ren) formerly attended
- students from their community or a community that they are associated with
Every effort is made to ensure a fair and equitable judging process. Because communication is one of the elements that students are being evaluated on, a student’s command of the language of their project remains a factor in how they are judged. (Judges are reminded to take into account that students may be presenting in their second or third language.) The proportion of French-language projects compared to the number of projects overall is also a factor in how many win awards.
No student’s personal contact information will be displayed. Only their name, grade, school, and the community in which their school is located will be included with their project. Heritage Saskatchewan endeavours to protect student privacy, but our organisation is not responsible if student-produced content includes personal identifying information.
Students, please do not include home addresses (including quarter-sections and postboxes), phone numbers, or email addresses in your projects. For projects where one's home or family farm are part of the topic, it is fine to mention them or include photos, but make sure the address is not visible. Vague directional descriptions (i.e. "south of Moose Jaw", "east of the river", or "on Albert Street") are fine.
Heritage Saskatchewan believes that students should be given full credit for their work, especially if they win a prize. Likewise, including the school name gives credit to the school. This is the type of non-confidential information generally included in news articles about students’ achievements.
Teachers and parents can arrange with Heritage Saskatchewan to accommodate individual students who have additional privacy concerns. Additional measures may include:
- using a pseudonym
- withholding the community and school name
- keeping the grade level confidential (except to the judges)
- ensuring that no photos of the student are publically viewable, or
- keeping the project off the public platform entirely.
These measures would be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Unfortunately, no, there is no longer a National Heritage Fair. Canada’s History Society runs national contests associated with Heritage Fairs that are separate from Saskatchewan’s Heritage Fairs program.
(The owl is Sunny the Saw-whet Owl, the Heritage Fairs mascot.)
Not every project in 2020 & 2021 included a still photograph of the student or project. For 2021, the photo served to distinguish projects in the Written Presentation category. Since then, Heritage Saskatchewan has made an extra effort to have a photo from each project, even if it is a screen-capture.
All students are strongly encouraged to submit a photograph, even if it is of the title page of their report, serving as a visual record of their participation.
Virtual Heritage Fair Topics
No, it can be about anything relating to Canada. Students are encouraged to choose a topic that they enjoy and want to learn more about. (Teachers do have the option to assign specific topics.)
This is a good question. What about topics that pre-date Confederation? What about areas that are now part of Canada, but were not at the time of the topic in question? What about topics that are connected to Canada, but also include what is now the USA and Mexico, or other countries?
For the purposes of Heritage Fairs, anything has a connection to Canada if it took place in what is now Canada, involved people who lived in what is now Canada, involved non-humans (i.e. animals, plants, etc.) who lived in what is now Canada, or had a direct impact on Canada, no matter when.
Teachers can choose to assign specific topics if that works best for them or their class, and depending on how it fits into the curriculum. For example, sometimes teachers have had their whole class study local treaties, explorers, famous Saskatchewan people, or their students' family histories.
Yes. For example, you may choose to set boundaries like "athletes must be retired" or "no projects about pop culture", etc. However, these rules only apply to your class or school. Heritage Saskatchewan does not set any criteria like this.
Living Heritage is about the past, present, and future. It does not matter how old something is for it to be considered heritage.
Absolutely. Science is a big part of our heritage.
As learning about local animals is part of the Grade 4 Science curriculum, for example, having students do a project on an animal with connections to North America is an option for a Heritage Fairs project.
Any of these could be potential topics, as long as they relate to Canada in some way. It does not matter how famous someone is or was. Someone who is very famous to a student might be someone that the judges have never heard about!
It does not matter how old or young someone is, whether or not they are alive, whether or not they are retired, or whether or not they have spent the majority of their career abroad, as long as they have a Canadian connection.
Students do not necessarily have to pick people who are "good role models", especially as they get older and want to delve into more nuanced topics. If there is known controversy about a person, judges will be looking for that controversy to be addressed in the project (i.e. retired athletes who advocate against vaccination, people misrepresenting their ethnic background, etc.).
Yes, as long as that character or story is connected to Canada. The character/story of Anne of Green Gables (as opposed to Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables) is a popular choice.
If a student wants to create a fictional character of their own, they can submit an entry in the Creative Presentation category.
Many events that happened in other countries have a Canadian connection (such as a war that Canadians participated in). Anything that took place within and around what are now the borders of Canada are also acceptable, even if they primarily took place in what is now the United States (such as the Underground Railroad). Some people move away from Canada for their careers, such as actors, but they still have a connection to Canada. Non-Canadians who have lived in or partially live in Canada can also be acceptable topics.
However, students should make sure that the connection to Canada is readily apparent in their projects.
Yes. The student and their family are themselves a connection to Canada.
Yes, but they need to make a connection to Canada in some way. For example, a student might want to do a project about a country that their ancestors used to live in. A good choice of topic would be to compare Canada to another country, discuss the trading relationships between Canada and another country, the ongoing influence of another country on Canada, or reasons why people immigrated to Canada from that country.
If a student submits a project that is not readily connected to Canada, the project will still be judged.
They can always check with their teacher. If their teacher is not sure either, the teacher, the student or the parent can check with Heritage Saskatchewan.
If a teacher is uneasy about a topic being controversial, they should check with Heritage Saskatchewan. If a student does good research and is respectful in preparing their project, almost any topic relating to Canada is acceptable.
Some topics may contain offensive material regardless. For example, doing a project about the history of hate groups in Saskatchewan would likely mean having photographs of said hate groups in the project. These topics should be done very carefully, but they are still acceptable. In the virtual medium, Heritage Saskatchewan reserves the right to hide photographs (so that they will not appear without warning or context) and to disable direct links if they do not conform to our organisation’s values. Students must use extreme caution when linking to third-party videos (even if used as a source) and should avoid using shock value as part of their presentation.
Heritage Saskatchewan reserves the right not to post a project on our website if it does not conform to our organisation's values; however, the project would still be provided to judges for evaluation.
Yes, this would be acceptable. Because there is no limit to how many projects a class or school can submit, the separate projects could all be submitted and viewed in their entirety. However, they would all be judged separately.
Any shift (actual or perceived) of focus from exclusively on history to a broader range of topics reflects the current education curriculum, societal trends, and Heritage Saskatchewan's mandate. Historical thinking is a cornerstone of the Heritage Fairs program.
There is no such thing as a “bad” topic, but a topic can be poorly handled. Also, a “bad” (rather, "not good") topic would be one which has no connection to Canada or wherein the connection to Canada cannot be readily inferred.
All projects are judged on their own merits. Students are judged on their presentation, research, and critical thinking. For some awards, projects may only be eligible if their topics fit into a certain category. Heritage Saskatchewan aims to have a broad range of topical award categories so that all projects fit within at least one of them.
No, but the student needs to do good research and be respectful in their display and presentation. (In such cases, students should avoid costumes.) They must be mindful that members of whichever cultural group they are depicting may be among the other students, judges, online viewers, etc..
If the student participates in an aspect of a cultural group (such as dance), wearing a uniform, costume, or regalia that they have earned in this capacity is entirely acceptable.
Please avoid the following:
- Black-/yellow-/red-face makeup; [painting one’s face to look dirty to portray a miner, a railroad worker, a disaster victim, etc. is acceptable, as is painting one's face to look like a clown or mime]
- Sexualised costumes;
- Racist/sexist phrases, cartoons, videos, or models (without historical context);
- Content expressing overt, non-historical racism, sexism, anti-2SLGBTQ+ views, etc.
- Links to content (i.e. websites) expressing overt, non-historical racism, sexism, anti-2SLGBTQ+ views, etc.
Yes! As long as it is an original creation by the student, having a game or quiz could be fun for judges and viewers. If a student wants to create a game as the main vehicle of their presentation, it may best fit in the Creative Presentation category.
As an educational project, Heritage Fairs falls under “fair dealing” for copyright purposes. Therefore, as long as students document their sources and give credit for photos, video clips, etc., their projects are not infringing on copyright.
However, online algorithms cannot distinguish between fair dealing and copyright infringement, so a project may get flagged regardless. Even something as innoccuous as a photo within a photo of a posterboard can be flagged as a potential violation (even if the source is documented on the actual poster). Students should endeavour to use material that is in the public domain and make sure to credit their sources, especially in videos. For more information, see our Plagiarism & Copyright page.
As long as credit is given, music falls under “fair dealing” if it is part of a video or audio clip in a project about the performers or writers of that music. It also falls under “fair dealing” if the student sings the song or a portion thereof, or if the student parodies the song.
However, music does not fall under “fair dealing” if it is being featured in a project on a topic unrelated to the performers or writers, especially if it is just as background music. For example, a clip of “My Heart Will Go On” is fair use in a project about Celine Dion (the song’s singer), but not in a project about the Titanic disaster. Students can obtain written permission from the copyright holder of any piece of music, but they are encouraged to use royalty-free music.
NOTE: Online algorithms often cannot distinguish between "fair dealing" and copyright violations. When it comes to music and video content, students should err on the side of caution and avoid including copyrighted material in the project itself. A better idea would be to link to the video or music directly.
As long as credit is given (especially if the clip is linked from the project directly to the copyright holder’s website or social media channel), students can include videos or video clips that they did not produce themselves. They can also include these clips directly into their own videos as long as credit is given.
NOTE: Online algorithms often cannot distinguish between "fair dealing" and copyright violations. When it comes to music and video content, students should err on the side of caution and avoid including copyrighted material in the project itself. A better idea would be to link to the video or music directly.
If a student explicitly received written permission in a situation where it is warranted, a copy of that email would be sufficient. (The email would remain in the project file and not be part of the project online.) Otherwise, no documentation is required.
Yes. These are still educational resources and the primary purpose of Heritage Fairs is education. Neither the student nor Heritage Saskatchewan is profiting financially from the projects.
For further information about Copyright, check out our Plagiarism & Copyright page!