The environmental school didn’t win the Canada’s Coolest School Trip contest, but did take the $500 second prize, to be given to a charity of its choice.
Six Grade 8 students, with the help of some parent volunteers, put together a lighthearted online commercial for the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, as part of the Parks Canada contest to promote the tourism opportunities on Cape Breton Island.
Justin Hyde said he and the other students thoroughly enjoyed the project.
“It was an amazing experience. I’ll get my teachers to fail me, so I can do it one more time.”
They did a professional job, with script, storyboards, and weeks of planning, which all culminated in a day of shooting at Fort Langley.
Hyde said he learned a lot about film making in the project.
“It was really cool to see how much was invested in just a 60-second video, and how all these little things come together.”
Then they edited the work down to the final one-minute presentation.
“It was pretty incredible teamwork,” said principal Clayton Maitland.
They were able to donate $500 to the charity of their choice – the Friends in Need Food Bank.
“We learned they were low on money and food to help people, and we thought it would be a good idea to help them out,” said Hyde.
Parents – Shannon Hyde, Krista Fillmore and Craig Cerhit – helped with costumes, driving and teaching the process of film making.
Another part of their prize was a class pizza party, and a presentation from Parks Canada.
The winning school got a trip to Cape Breton Island Highlands National Park in June, and the grand prize winner was Caronport Elementary School, as the Saskatchewan kids produced a video that started with them all standing on a bleak, snow-swept prairie longing for Louisbourg.
• The videos can be seen at contest.myparkspass.ca .