Bringing History To Life In The Classroom: Multimedia Contest
Alberta Champions has been offering Student Contests since 2010 to promote greater awareness of important Albertans and their roles in building our community.
Students grades 4-9 write about great Albertans, catch the inspiration, start to emulate the champions, begin their community involvement, learn good citizenship, and can WIN GREAT PRIZES!
The contest is open to students from all schools across Alberta, from Grades 4-6 and Grades 7-9.
CONTEST DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES IS APRIL 17th, 2025
Resource Materials
Following are some resources to assist with successful participation in the contest:
- Individual Student Rubric (Grades 4-6) (for 2025)
- Individual Student Rubric (Grades 7-9) (for 2025)
- Alberta Champions Contest Rules for 2025 for Grades 7-9
- Alberta Champions Story Contest Rules for 2025 for Grades 4-6
Here are the Alberta Curriculum Connections:
- Alberta Champions 4-6 ELAL and Social Curriculum Links
- Alberta Champions JH ELAL and Social Curriculum Links
This Research Planning Guide helps students plan and manage their research.
Here is a Bibliography Template to organize the end of student submissions.
Resources for Teachers for Planning the Project Including Timeline, by Jennifer Perry.
Entry Submission File Formats, by Mark Ruthenberg
When students create multi-media entries, it is still important to cover the requirements of confirming the impact of the champion as well as how they inspired the student. Here are two examples from Grade 4 students who created this type of entry as well as the response of the judges.
Examples for the Nellie McClung Explanation, above:
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With thanks to the following for their input on these resources:
Amber Araki, strategist, Calgary Board of Education (CBE), Sheryl Fernando, Vice Principal, Calgary Catholic School District (CSSD), Michele Jones, Executive Director, Alberta Student Assessment Consortium, Rob Lennard, The History Wrangler, Meagan Lundgren, Principal, Belfast School, CBE, Calgary, Jennifer Perry, Consultant, Elementary Social Studies, CCSD
IDEAS: Integrating into your curriculum
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- Individual projects by entire class, to encourage research into Alberta history and historical figures
- Individual projects by entire class, to encourage creative writing about historical figures and their impact on the community
- Enrichment projects, to encourage meaningful individual research and work, and develop citizenship and community connections
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Over 60 LOCAL champions to choose from! OR, choose your own champion (posthumous). Help your students celebrate our Alberta heritage.
More Great Ideas and Motivators
How to Write a History Based Song in 4 Easy Steps
(remember that your song must be accompanied by the required script as per the sample above)
Message from The History Wrangler
“Good luck to those students who choose to create a history based song for the 2025 Alberta Champions contest! Also, I hope you find my video on how to write a history based song in 4 easy steps helpful and I look forward to recording the winning song in a professional recording studio!”
Rob Lennard
The History Wrangler
Attention Teachers, Grades 4 to 9:
This contest will connect with your learning outcomes. Do you want to
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- Bring Alberta history to life in your classroom?
- Encourage your students to advance their writing skills and write creatively?
- Help students to discover the impact one individual can have on the community?
- Develop your students’ citizenship skills as they link diverse individuals in history with their present lives?
- Win a certificate to purchase materials for your classroom?
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Teachers: This is why we do it!
This is why we do it! A teacher’s perspective…
Ms. Amber Araki, Calgary Board of Education
Entries and WINNERS from many different schools
We have had past student entries AND WINNERS from a variety of schools in across Alberta (though mostly Calgary and Southern Alberta in our earlier contests) including:
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- Catholic schools
- Public schools
- Home schooled students
- Private schools
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Again, for 2025, students from across the province are all welcome to enter. and we’ll work with teachers to facilitate integration with the curriculum.
Comments
Thank you so much for running such an awesome contest. I will continue to work with my students on it again next year.” Teacher M.L. from CBE
“This contest taught me a lot about an incredible woman I should have known about earlier, so I hope you can keep on hosting this contest in the future to teach other students about great role models here in our city and province.” Past student winner
Write about these Alberta Champions:
These individuals, important to Alberta history, can be selected as subjects for the 2024 student entries for the Grades 4-6 or the Grades 7-9 contests.
You can choose from this list OR you may write about any Albertan of your choice (posthumous). Here are links to more articles about these Champions in the The Canadian Encyclopedia:
Write about these Alberta Champions:
These individuals, important to Alberta history, can be selected as subjects for the 2024 student entries for the Grades 4-6 or the Grades 7-9 contests.
You can choose from this list OR you may write about any Albertan of your choice (posthumous). If you don’t find their biography on Alberta Champions website you can Google them or try Canadian Encyclopedia. Search | The Canadian Encyclopedia
Women
Dr. Anne Anderson
Virnetta Anderson
Violet Archer
Thelma Chalifoux
Martha Cohen
Gwen Davies
Mary Dover
Henrietta Edwards
Annie Gale
Ruth Gorman
Alice Jamieson
Violet King
Nellie McClung
Louise McKinney
Dr. Clara Christie Might
Betty Mitchell
Emily Murphy
Irene Parlby
Maude Riley
Joan Snyder
Vicky Whalen
Jean McWilliam
Indigenous
Dr. Anne Anderson
Narcisse Blood
George Brertton
Harold Cardinal
Thelma Chalifoux
Chief David Crowchild
Gordon Crowchild
Chief Crowfoot
Louis Fousseneuve (Captain Shott)
Alex Janvier
Roy Little Chief
Chief Mostos
Sykes Powderface
Jim Shot Both Sides
Charles (Checker)Tomkins-(Cree Code Talker)
Chief Walking Buffalo
Other Outstanding Albertans
RB Bennett
David Black
William Buchanan
Senator Patrick Burns
Peter Campbell
Wilf Carter
Dr. Karl Clark
James Cornwall (Peace River Jim)
John Currie
Laurence Decore
Haider Dhanani
Bob Edwards
Peter Erasmus
Michael Green
Eric Harvie
Harry Hays
Harley Hotchkiss
William Roper Hull
Other Outstanding Albertans (continued)
Dr. Dennis Kadatz
Sydney Kahanoff
Frank King
Norman Kwong
Father Albert Lacombe
Sam Livingston
Senator Sir James Lougheed
Peter Lougheed
Grant MacEwan
Sir Alexander MacKenzie
James Macleod
Roddy Mah
Ernest Manning
Frederick C. Mannix
Charles (Chuck) Mawer
Wop May
Bud McCaig
Harold Milavsky
Doug Mitchell
W.O. Mitchell
Bob Niven
Grant Notley
Peter Prince
Alexander Rutherford
Arthur Smith
Ron Southern
David Thompson
Thomas Walsh
Henry Wise Wood
Gus Yaki