This year, the youth curator program looked at the history of energy in B.C. Students were interested in a wide range of topics, including how we lived before electricity, and what type of transportation people used to get to and from the island. On the second visit to the archives, curator Heather Joan Tam had a bound volume of old Undercurrent articles on the table. The Undercurrent was from February 5, 1982, and was open to an article called The Frightened Ferryman written by Leslie Wallwork. "Is this your grandfather?" Heather asked me, and I responded that it was. The youth curators invited me to participate in this year's exhibit. You can learn more about the research at the exhibit in the display case in the upper foyer at BICS that is open for viewing during school open hours and will remain on display until the end of March.
This is the third year of the youth curators program which provides an opportunity for students to celebrate and explore local history through visits to the local museum and archives, independent study and the creation of an interactive heritage display which is shared with the entire school and the community. The program was developed by Sarah Haxby, community school coordinator and Heather Joan Tam, curator of the Bowen Island Museum and Archives. The program complements the school's existing tradition of holding a fun, school-wide celebratory Heritage Day, and establishes a balance by having the students visiting the local museum and archives, as well as having the Bowen Island Museum and Archives and Bowen Heritage members come to visit the school.
The 14 students who signed up as youth curators had the chance to participate in what happens behind the scenes in the museum and archives over a series of visits.
Youth curators researched their selected topics at the archives, online, and by interviewing locals, including seniors. Students commit four to five lunch hours for the program, as well as time for independent research.
To explore this year's theme, students looked at various artifacts, utensils and appliances including sad irons, oil lamps, telephones, typewrites, and a 'sticking Tommy.' Objects that were used on utility poles, including telegraph, telephone and hydro poles included: ceramic insulator tubes, and glass insulator caps.
From grade 4 youth curator Kole Bentley: "I chose the oil lamp because people needed it for light. If it was dark people would put it in the living room. Also: if there was no electricity, and no oil, what else would they use? Candles. I thought this was interesting, and that's why I chose the oil lamp that might have originally come from an old Bowen Island farmhouse."
From youth curator team Brylie Guilfoyle and Chloe Jackson: "We are researching the rotary dial old phone. This phone, like most phones, was used to communicate from one person to another. It was bolted on the wall, and you couldn't walk around and talk at the same time. This phone was made around 1967 when the seven digit phone numbers first came out. In the 1968 Bowen Island phone book the phone number written on the phone belonged to two people. The names in the phone book are: Mrs. H.E. Molson who lived at Cowans Point and U. Malkin, who also lived at Cowans Point."
This hands-on, interactive program is made possible thanks to the generosity of the Bowen Island Museum and Archives, the Archives and Museum curator Heather Joan Tam, Board liaison Andrew Todd, professional conservator, and Bowen Heritage.
All of these community partners have a long-standing tradition of bringing fabulous events, workshops and celebrations of our local heritage and history to the community and the community school. Now in its third year, the youth curator program has recently received funding support from Decoda Literacy Solutions and the Province of BC that will allow the program to continue and to expand. The youth curator program was developed to empower youth to identify as being part of our community's present and future by promoting literacy and awareness of our past.
The 2012 youth curators are excited to create an exhibit inspired by this year's BC Heritage Week theme: a celebration of Energy in B.C.: A powerful past, a sustainable future.
