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Grade 9 teacher Colleen Fraser couldn’t be more proud of her class, which recently won a national citizenship contest.
Fraser’s class of 32 bested more than 1,000 other classes in Canada to score the top honour in the Citizenship Challenge, a contest organized by Historica Canada, a national non-profit dedicated to enhancing awareness of Canada’s history and citizenship.
“I’m ecstatic, really ecstatic, and really proud of them,” Fraser said following an award presentation at Edmonton’s Londonderry Junior High School.
The challenge asks Canadians to test their national knowledge by studying for and writing a mock citizenship exam. Fraser used Historica Canada’s book Discover Canada as a guide and let her students prepare as they wanted for the test. They scored an average mark of 85 per cent.
“They’re proud, extremely proud,” she said. “I think it reaffirms their commitment, their pride of being Canadian.”
Her class, and the school in general, has a very diverse student population, Fraser said. Some of her students are new Canadians themselves while many have parents who immigrated to Canada.
“Because they come from such diverse backgrounds, they know what it means to commit to hard work, and they see their parents as examples.” ❚
Colleen Fraser, a teacher at Londonderry Junior High School in Edmonton, recites a citizenship pledge as part of an event recognizing her Grade 9 class's win in the national Citizenship Challenge.
Grade 9 student Erin Chow receives congratulations from CTV Edmonton’s Stacey Brotzel, who was on hand to speak about the importance of active citizenship.
