Goldrush - from cradle to grave
This is the opening sequence of a 20 minute documentary about the discovery of payable gold in Australia in 1851. Descendants of John Lister and William Tom, co-discoverers, gathered in Millthorpe in November 2010. The complete documentary (on DVD PAL or NTSC by arrangement) is available from the Golden Memories Museum, Millthorpe.
millthorpemuseum@gmail.com
Video made by Tracy Sorensen
Perthville PS - The Day of the Dare
History Here
About
The History Here project is an initiative of The Project Zone and represents a potent collaboration between the Department of Education’s videoconference hub DART Connections, Orange Regional Museum, Mitchell State Library NSW, Orange Historical Society, Eugowra Museum, StarTime Sydney, and various regional government and community service providers.
History Here is coordinated by The Project Zone, whose creative directors Vince Lovecchio and Paul Stafford are inspired by the level of commitment, talent & enthusiasm possessed by the students and their staff.
Why History Here?
When we first went into primary schools in Central West NSW and asked the students what had happened in their area, we got variations of the same answer; “Nothing. Nothing ever happened here.”
It was disturbing but not that surprising. The world is a vast, fast, hyper-connected sphere of information, with almost none of it generated locally. And - let’s be frank here - kids think history is boring. We set out to change that.
What do students learn from the History Here project?
For History Here projects we invite a series of local historians, amateur historians, motivated citizens and enthusiastic busybodies into the classroom to share their stories, memories and historical threads, often handed down from distant ancestors. The students narrow these stories down through a democratic vote until we have five ‘possibles’, and then a final winner.
Project participants then research, using local historical sources (many self-published), Trove, Mitchell State Library Learning Centre and their local Historical Society, before storyboarding & drafting a final filmable script.
The students are guided through the filmmaking process, learn new technical skills while developing research, interview, scripting and performance skills. History Here projects also incorporate a strong STEM element with students learning green screen/virtual reality, alongside a strong cine-literacy and narrative writing component.
But all that pales when you see the real, profound development; these kids learn the significance of where they live, build a sense of community pride and ownership, while developing a genuine sense of self and place.
Now when they’re asked what happened around their area, these same students can rattle off at least five significant historical events or characters, and will answer you quite categorically; “Something really important happened here.”
History Here - Bigger Than Ben Hall
The Bigger Than Ben Hall project involves primary schools across NSW, Queensland and the USA re-telling the exploits of Ben Hall’s gang, one of Australia’s most infamous bushranging outfits, which terrorised the Central West region of NSW in the early wild west days of the colony’s first gold rush.
These incredibly talented young students research, write scripts and make films about the infamous local bushranger gang led by Frank Gardiner and Ben Hall. The students live and go to school in the towns where the gang operated stealing gold and horses.
The latest exciting instalment of History Here - The Bigger Than Ben Hall 2018 project involved primary schools from across Central Western NSW, including Canowindra, Eglinton, Perthville Public Schools, and St Joseph’s School, Eugowra.
A series of historically-themed short films were researched, scripted and acted by students then filmed and edited for a scheduled international broadcast to schools across NSW, San Francisco and Hawaii, USA. The project involved filming at various locations around the Central West, including a number of sites at the rocky range of Eugowra where the actual gold heist took place.
The live broadcast from Canowindra on 19 December will feature a live re-enactment of the gang’s raid on that town, a one man bush band, green-screening pop-ups and a retelling of the gang’s story by eminent bushranger expert and author Craig Lawler.
We are are deeply grateful to the schools and community organisations who gave freely of their time and resources to help make this world-first web-based event possible. A big shout out to all the students – they were awesome.”
Canowindra PS - The Party Planner
History Here
About
The History Here project is an initiative of The Project Zone and represents a potent collaboration between the Department of Education’s videoconference hub DART Connections, Orange Regional Museum, Mitchell State Library NSW, Orange Historical Society, Eugowra Museum, StarTime Sydney, and various regional government and community service providers.
History Here is coordinated by The Project Zone, whose creative directors Vince Lovecchio and Paul Stafford are inspired by the level of commitment, talent & enthusiasm possessed by the students and their staff.
Why History Here?
When we first went into primary schools in Central West NSW and asked the students what had happened in their area, we got variations of the same answer; “Nothing. Nothing ever happened here.”
It was disturbing but not that surprising. The world is a vast, fast, hyper-connected sphere of information, with almost none of it generated locally. And - let’s be frank here - kids think history is boring. We set out to change that.
What do students learn from the History Here project?
For History Here projects we invite a series of local historians, amateur historians, motivated citizens and enthusiastic busybodies into the classroom to share their stories, memories and historical threads, often handed down from distant ancestors. The students narrow these stories down through a democratic vote until we have five ‘possibles’, and then a final winner.
Project participants then research, using local historical sources (many self-published), Trove, Mitchell State Library Learning Centre and their local Historical Society, before storyboarding & drafting a final filmable script.
The students are guided through the filmmaking process, learn new technical skills while developing research, interview, scripting and performance skills. History Here projects also incorporate a strong STEM element with students learning green screen/virtual reality, alongside a strong cine-literacy and narrative writing component.
But all that pales when you see the real, profound development; these kids learn the significance of where they live, build a sense of community pride and ownership, while developing a genuine sense of self and place.
Now when they’re asked what happened around their area, these same students can rattle off at least five significant historical events or characters, and will answer you quite categorically; “Something really important happened here.”
History Here - Bigger Than Ben Hall
The Bigger Than Ben Hall project involves primary schools across NSW, Queensland and the USA re-telling the exploits of Ben Hall’s gang, one of Australia’s most infamous bushranging outfits, which terrorised the Central West region of NSW in the early wild west days of the colony’s first gold rush.
These incredibly talented young students research, write scripts and make films about the infamous local bushranger gang led by Frank Gardiner and Ben Hall. The students live and go to school in the towns where the gang operated stealing gold and horses.
The latest exciting instalment of History Here - The Bigger Than Ben Hall 2018 project involved primary schools from across Central Western NSW, including Canowindra, Eglinton, Perthville Public Schools, and St Joseph’s School, Eugowra.
A series of historically-themed short films were researched, scripted and acted by students then filmed and edited for a scheduled international broadcast to schools across NSW, San Francisco and Hawaii, USA. The project involved filming at various locations around the Central West, including a number of sites at the rocky range of Eugowra where the actual gold heist took place.
The live broadcast from Canowindra on 19 December will feature a live re-enactment of the gang’s raid on that town, a one man bush band, green-screening pop-ups and a retelling of the gang’s story by eminent bushranger expert and author Craig Lawler.
We are are deeply grateful to the schools and community organisations who gave freely of their time and resources to help make this world-first web-based event possible. A big shout out to all the students – they were awesome.”