Go, girl, go!

Sherilyn Graff (left) and Emma Brownlie, students attending Leo Nickerson Elementary School, in St. Albert, give the thumbs up to Girl Power. The students were participating in the school’s Historica Fair, held February 25. —Photo by Koni Macdonald

The accomplishments of Canadian female athletes Marilyn Bell, the first woman to swim across Lake Ontario, Nancy Greene, Olympic gold- and silver-medal winning downhill skier, and Miriam Bedard, Olympic gold- and bronze-medal winning biathlete were the focus of a Historica Fair project undertaken by Sherilyn Graff and Emma Brownlie. About their project Graff commented: "The most important thing I learned was to never give up. These three women showed me that men are not the only ones that make a difference in history. There are so many male heroes in history books, and I wanted to learn more about Canadian women heroes like Marilyn Bell, Nancy Greene and Miriam Bedard."

Brownlie explained her interest in the topic this way: "What interested me the most about these heroes was why they made decisions a certain way. I wanted to know what their inspiration was for making their choices. I wanted to know about their challenges. I also really wanted to learn about women heroes!"

Historica Fairs focus on Canadian Heritage and are modelled on the popular science fair concept.

For the complete story and photos, see Historica Fair.

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