ExxonMobil Hands-On Heritage Awards Announced

Students at St. Mary's Education Centre in Guysborough County will be living history this fall thanks to an exciting new educational partnership unveiled today, May 19, at Historic Sherbrooke Village.

The school was the winner of the first ExxonMobil Hands On Heritage Award. The prize-winning school will attend the fall sessions of Hands On History in 2005 -- a program that allows people to stay at the historic restoration area and take part in such hands-on activities such as woodworking, blacksmithing and making homemade butter.

Initiated by the Historic Sherbrooke Village Development Society, the new awards program was developed to provide financial support for schools within the Strait Area District School Board so they could better participate in the "live-in" part of the Hands on History Program.

Representatives of ExxonMobil Canada, which operates the Sable gas plant in nearby Goldboro, said the company was excited to provide its support.

"We are very pleased to be making this investment in one of our most valuable community assets -- our young people," said Alan Jeffers, public affairs manager for ExxonMobil Canada. "In supporting this program we are ensuring that they have access to the heritage educational experience offered by Sherbrooke Village."

Craig MacDonald, director of Historic Sherbrooke Village, thanked ExxonMobil, the Historic Sherbrooke Village Development Society -- a non-profit, volunteer-driven "friends of" Sherbrooke Village organization -- and the staff of the historic village for helping students better understand their history.

"When these school groups come to Sherbrooke Village we know they will be well treated, well fed and well looked after, and will leave here with a much better understanding of our heritage and culture," said Craig MacDonald, director of Historic Sherbrooke Village. "All of our staff are well invested in seeing that our Hands on History experience is second to none. I have every confidence that the schools who come here through the Hands on Heritage Awards will enjoy the program to its fullest."

The ExxonMobil Hands On Heritage Awards will be also presented in 2006 and 2007 with two schools each receiving $2,000 awards in those years. The ExxonMobil Hands On Heritage Awards prize-winning schools will attend the fall sessions of Hands On History in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

For more information on the Sherbrooke Village Hands On History Program contact George Brothers at 1-888-743-7845 or visit the Hands On History website at www.handsonhistory.ca .