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‘Living History’ wraps up

Grade 7 students from Twin Rivers Elementary celebrated the completion of the Living History project with seniors from Castle Wood Village last week.
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Cassie Edmonson reads the life story of one of Castle Wood Village’s residents during the Living History wrap-up tea on Thursday afternoon last week.

Grade 7 students from Twin Rivers Elementary celebrated the completion of the Living History project with seniors from Castle Wood Village last week.

The project paired 29 students from Ms. Cheveldave’s Grade 7 class with 20 Castle Wood residents. Over the course of a few visits, each student got to know the senior he or she was paired with (who became referred to as their “buddy”) and stories came to life as seniors described where they were born, when they came to Castle Wood and all the events in between.

Bev George, community school co-ordinator for Blueberry Creek Community School, organized the project. Usually the seniors are paired with high-school students, but they decided to try the project with a younger group this time.

This was the fifth time this project was undertaken in Castlegar, and previous copies are available at the library.

“Making connections, decreasing stereotypes, increasing understanding, improving communities and making cherished memories are the objectives the Living History project accomplishes,” George wrote in the introduction.

The students learned many interesting facts from their buddies, and received advice about life as well.

Troy Negreiff learned his buddy, Florence Nevokshonoff, was the first person in Ootischenia to own a car. She’s also been to Mexico 20 times.

Helena Garay learned her buddy, Mina Lee, drilled for diamonds between Nelson in Castlegar.

Ray Lee advised his young buddies, Austin Deptuck and Ryan Anderson to be honest, pay their debts and be kind to neighbours.