| The B.C. Social Studies
Teachers’ Association provided initial funding and
financial support. Volunteer teachers prepared and edited
the contest, while university students were hired to mark
the contestants’ papers. Participating schools were
charged a fee to partially offset the costs of marking
the contest and to provide money for the contest prizes.
Financial support and support in kind has come from a
variety of individuals and organizations. Early in 1997,
the Begbie Contest Society was registered with the
federal and provincial governments as a charitable
organization which could issue tax receipts for donations
received. As the popularity
of the contest continued to grow, the Begbie Contest
Society began to seek entrants from other provinces. In
2001 we began the process of turning the Begbie Contest
into Canada’s National History Contest. The members
of the Begbie Contest Society are currently working to
make that goal a reality. We envisioned a Society made up
of classroom social studies teachers from across Canada
who would come together annually to prepare the Contest.
We believed that this arrangement would ensure a truly
national contest which would be fair to all participants.
The Begbie Contest Society has received financial
assistance from the Canadian Studies Program, Department
of Canadian Heritage, to help make this possible
We believe that the effective study of our history can
provide Canadian students with the opportunity to develop
the research, evaluation and communication skills so
necessary for citizens in modern society. In developing
and promoting the Begbie Contest, the Society hopes to
work towards this goal and at the same time to meet the
following specific objectives:
- To produce a national
Canadian History contest
- To increase the profile and
popularity of Canadian history among students,
parents and the general public.
- To encourage students to
acquire the common core of knowledge educated
Canadian citizens need in order to make informed
decisions about future problems.
- To expose students to the
primary and secondary sources used by historians
and to engage them in evaluating, analyzing, and
interpreting those sources.
- To challenge students to
think critically about historical and
contemporary problems and to encourage them to
critically evaluate "expert" opinions.
- To encourage academic
achievement and academic excellence and provide
recognition to students who strive for them.
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