Schools receive book donation

The Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (HSA) is donating 260 copies of Vinland Revisited: The Norse World at the Turn of the First Millennium to elementary schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. On behalf of Grade 5 students throughout the province, Education Minister John Ottenheimer was pleased to receive the donation this morning from Catherine Power, chair of the HSA.

"We are always excited when our community partners show their support of our students by making important donations such as today's by the HSA," Minister Ottenheimer said. "While this beautiful book complements our Grade 5 curriculum, it can be used as a resource by teachers and students of any grade level to better appreciate our early history and the influential part the Vikings played in it."

In 2000, HSA partnered with the Labrador Straits Historical Development Corporation and the Committee on Medieval Studies, Memorial University, to organize the Viking Millennium Symposium. Vinland Revisited is a selection of papers presented at the symposium, which brought together some of the world's most eminent academics and experts in Norse studies.

Catherine Power noted: "The text provides an excellent compilation of current theory and knowledge about the Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. The HSA is proud to provide elementary schools throughout the province with this useful resource that will very likely be of interest to both students and their parents."

The resource was published with the financial support of the Canada Millennium Partnership Program, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Parks Canada and St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc.

Photo #1: Education Minister John Ottenheimer was pleased to receive the donation this morning from Catherine Power, chair of the HSA.

Media contact:
          Lynn Salter, Department of Education, (709) 729-0048
          Jennifer Barnable, Historic Sites Association, (709) 753-9262

2004 03 163:35 p.m.