Each year the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) presents awards to celebrate and encourage excellence within the Canadian Museum sector. A volunteer jury conducts a peer review of all submissions and the successful recipients are honoured at the CMA’s Annual Conference. On February 3, 2009, the Morse Museum & Cultural Centre and Morse School received word that they had been awarded the 2009 Museums and Schools Partnership Award. This award recognizes excellence in collaboration between Canadian Museums and Schools in developing educational programming which enhances and expands students’ knowledge and appreciation of Canada’s cultural and natural heritage. This award is co-sponsored by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and the Canadian College of Teachers in collaboration with the CMA. The award was open to any Canadian school in collaboration with any Canadian public non-profit museum. Projects were assessed on collaboration, heritage, partnership, relevance, synergy and vision.
The Awards Committee assessing projects was unanimous in recognizing that the Morse Museum & Cultural Centre and Morse School’s partnership in the School Tour Program met the CMA’s criteria for outstanding achievement. They noted that, “Its integration as well as its long term vision make this project an excellent example of the kind of unique learning opportunity that museums and schools can create by working together. Therefore, these achievements have allowed this nomination to stand out and merit the Museums and Schools Partnership Award.” The Museum and School will receive the award at the CMA Annual Conference in Toronto at the Awards Ceremony and Celebration Dinner on March 26.
Morse is a small, rural community in South West Saskatchewan. A group of dedicated volunteers managed to save the 6 room brick school from demolition, worked at having it designated a Municipal Heritage Property and created a cultural and heritage museum in 1985. An educational program was developed and has been offered to area schools for the past 20 years. This past year saw the greatest success with the program as 17 classes from area schools with a total of 440 students, teachers and parent supervisors pass through the museum’s rooms. Many of the classes that participated in the program travelled up to 2 hours to reach the museum.
The students at Morse School have been involved in the program since its inception. The elementary students and their teachers utilize the program, often visiting 3 or 4 times in the year, while the high school students all have opportunities to volunteer as participants in presenting the various stations of the program. For example, several dress in period clothing and present a play based on a family living in 1917. Others may assist in the craft station, the outdoor games or carrying buckets of water for washing clothes. The student volunteers learn to interact with younger students and also to work with senior volunteers that have personal knowledge or experience in the way thing were done in the past. The student volunteers benefit by developing leadership roles, drama, improvisation and organizational skills. All students in the school are involved in some way or another all the years they are in school, as the present school is situated adjacent to the museum.
The school tour program is unique in that it incorporates local interest stories such as the Bible with a bullet hole and the cow in the school. The program focuses on the historical and cultural heritage of the area and emphasizes natural environmental features that were faced by the early pioneers and how many of these features are still a part of life today. The fact that the program continues year after year and many of the teachers bring new classes demonstrates that the program is successful and relevant. The satisfaction of the volunteers is shown by their willingness to help out with the program again and again.
