Students in Nova Scotia can now vie for $3,000 in bursaries and gifts, and learn more about African Nova Scotian history along the way.
The annual African Nova Scotian History Challenges organized by the Delmore (Buddy) Daye Learning Institute launched on Oct. 19.
The competition is open to all students and classes from schools across the province.
“We’re hoping that we can continue to build on the success from previous years. Last year we had in the thousands in terms of submissions so we want to keep that growing,” said Sylvia Parris-Drummond, the institute’s CEO.
The challenges encourage students to explore themes of African Nova Scotian history, culture and communities through art, poetry, short stories and media.
Categories for entries include Notable Nova Scotians, Express Yourself, and A Day in the Life.
“Express Yourself is a popular one because I think it allows the community to be expressive in an art way, whether that’s in spoken word or visual arts,” she said.
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Last year’s winning entries ranged from a class display about civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond to a report about late Halifax educator Wade Smith to various paintings and a dance.
Parris-Drummond says the competition has been successful in encouraging students to learn more about African Nova Scotian history, but the organization knows there’s more progress to come.
“We want to continue to do more because we would like it to be fully integrated. So that we see African Nova Scotian history as Nova Scotian history,” she said.
This is an especially important year for the institute because it recently moved into its new facility on Cornwallis Street in Halifax’s north end.
Entries will be accepted until Feb. 8, 2019. For more information, visit the official page for The 2019 African Nova Scotian History Challenges.