Our Youth in Education Program is a joint venture program of the Optimist Clubs of London and Middlesex County and the London Museum of Archaeology. The theme of each year's program is centred around the science of archaeology, which is the study of history from the remains of early human cultures as discovered by systematic excavations.
The program first started in 1994 with Dr. Joe MacInnis, Executive Director of the IMAX film TITANICA. He presented his topic - "The TITANIC-In a New Light" to over 2,300 students and teachers. Through the generous assistance and support of many Optimist Clubs in the area, The Youth In Education Program was born.
In 1995, Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada's first astronaut, enthraled an extremely attentive audience with her presentation "From Space - Below earth. The spontaneous standing ovation at the end of her presentation was testimonial to the positive impact our program has on the youth of our communities.
The presentation in 1996 was by John Coles, noted archaeologist from England. He was born in Woodstock, Ontario and became our third Canadian presenter in the Youth in Education Series. He presented "Ice Man", a frozen body that was several hundreds of years old that was found in the Swiss Alps. "Bog Bodies", his second presentation, was about the corpses of individuals which were murdered and tossed into peat bogs near London, England. He provided an entertaining, informative and educational experience for all our youth.
TITANICA was the topic late in 1997 and several hundred students viewed the display at the museum and were sponsored by the Youth In Education program and the Optimist Clubs. The film was also viewed at the IMAX Theatre.
Dr. Jim Tuck, Professor at Memorial University, St. Johns, Newfoundland, presented "Vikings & Basques & Early European Settlers to Eastern Canada" on Thursday, May 7, 1998 at Alumni Hall at the University of Western Ontario. On October 20, 1998, a presentation was given at Centennial Hall in London by Dr. Jane Goodall talked about her 30 years studying chimpanzee behaviour in the Gombe Reserve in Africa.
Each year the participating schools have been given an EDUKIT that contains learning materials for the students. In 1995 a project and poster contest was added to expand the number of youth that could benefit from our program. In 1996 another addition to the program gave our youth an opportunity to visit a local archaeological site to learn about early history in our locality.
The Youth In Education Program is directed at grade 7 students. This provides a potential audience of 5,200 students. It was felt by focusing on one grade level that we could offer the program to the greatest number of students from different areas in the vicinity of London.
The Youth in Education Fund offers one $500 scholarship and one $500 cash award annually to two high school students in the London area and District.
or
Don McLeod, donmcleod@sympatico.ca
Chairman
Youth in Education Program Committee
357 Grangeover Ave.
London, Ontario
Phone (519) 642-4166
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