A Grade 6 student from Assiniboia Park Elementary School has taken her passion for history and science to new heights, finishing second at regionals and earning a spot at the National Virtual Heritage Fair.
Victoria Roy’s project focused on a uniquely Canadian innovation: the cardiac pacemaker. Invented in 1949 by electrical engineer John Hopps, the pacemaker has saved countless lives, and, as Victoria discovered, even has uses beyond human medicine.
“An interesting fact about it is that when humans die, they can donate their cardiac pacemaker to animals like dogs or cats,” she explained.
Victoria first presented her project at the school level.
“You first pick your topic and then you get judged at your school,” she said. “Then, about five people from Grades 5 and 6 get to go to regionals. And then different people from places like Regina also get judged all together.”
From there, Victoria advanced to provincials and ultimately to the national level. For the National Virtual Heritage Fair, participants submit photos of their displays and respond to a series of questions online. There’s also a public voting component—the People’s Choice Award.
“You can go online to the website and vote for anyone you want,” she said. “There should be a voting button, and then there’s a list of names to choose from.”
According to her father, Richy Roy, Victoria’s project was among the top scorers at regionals, where she placed second out of 180 students. That strong performance secured her place in the national showcase.
For Victoria, the experience has been about more than just awards.
“I liked probably getting to go to a whole bunch of different places and meeting all these people,” she shared. “Last year I went to regionals, but now I got to go so many levels ahead.”
The National Virtual Heritage Fair runs until July 1st. You can view Victoria’s project and all of the ones submitted for the Heritage Fair on the Canada’s History website. You can cast your vote for your favourite submission on a separate page dedicated to voting.