Local News Students to trace their roots Barbados Today23/10/2019043 views Students in Barbados can now get to work to creating their family trees. The Genealogy Schools Project has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Education to encourage students at both the primary and secondary level to create their own family trees. The competition which will have various categories and students will be encouraged to be as creative as possible in their presentations, was launched at the Archives Department, today. It will also coincide with Barbados’ Vision 2020:We Gathering celebrations, which will seek to invite the Barbadian Diaspora back home. Junior Minister of Tourism Hailey Mahy (right) delivering remarks during today’s panel discussion as fellow panelists, including (from left) head of the Department of Archives Ingrid Thompson, Dr Frederick Alleyne and Lyndianne Davis of COPA Airlines look on. Giving an overview of the competition, manager of innovation and strategy at the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), Terry Vanterpool-Cox, said BTMI and the Department of Archives and COPA Airlines were working collaboratively to bring more awareness to the topic of genealogy, a niche market for the tourism industry worldwide. “For decades Barbadians and visitors have expressed an interest in their ancestral heritage and so we would also wish to awaken this same enthusiasm in the children of Barbados,” Vanterpool-Cox said. The competition will be conducted in two age categories, including a Junior Division and Senior Division. According to the rules of the competition, which will climax in October 2020, students must submit one family tree representing both sides of their family, and each tree must be accompanied by a summary in English. The presentations should be on a standard 22”x28” Bristol board. While presentations must be printed or handwritten, pictures will be an asset and entries will be judged on creativity, content and quality. The prizes include trips to Panama, tablets and cash.