P.E.I. grade 8 classes vie for 'Canada's coolest school trip'

Two P.E.I. schools are in the running to win a class trip to Jasper National Park in Alberta, and they're seeking your computer clicks to take top prize against 67 others.

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The My Parks Pass contest is offering a Canadian grade 8 class an all-expenses-paid trip to Jasper National Park for five days in June, called Canada's Coolest School Trip. Students will go white-water rafting, walk on glaciers and visit the historic Palisades Centre.

To win, students at Morell Consolidated and Kensington Intermediate Senior High School have created one-minute videos about the Prince Edward Island National Park.

People can vote daily for their favourite video. The 10 videos that get the most votesgo to a panel of judges who choose the top video.

"A look at the beautiful Prince Edward Island National Park through the eyes of Islanders," is how Donald Mulligan's 8B class at KISH describes their video, adding it is 100% student-created. A student voices the video in rhyme, describing the dunes that face erosion, piping plovers facing extinction, and the home of the fictional character Anne of Green Gables that are all part of the park.

Michaela Oliver's class at Morell Consolidated, calling themselves The Crazy Eights, chose to focus on the Greenwich section of the P.E.I.National Park "because of its natural beauty and historical significance."

The video contrasts students touring the park dressed in historic costumes on black-and-white film, with those riding bikes and frolicking in the waves in colourful modern dressall against a backdrop of lively traditional fiddle music.

"Greenwich location, is a hidden gem on Prince Edward Island, and deserves to be recognized as a must-see destination when visiting P.E.I.," the class writes in its description.

Public voting opened on Feb. 29 and continues until March 18. Votes are not shown publicly throughout the contest, so the classes will have no idea of their standing until the top 10 videos are revealed. The overall winner will be announced in mid-April.

Three runners-up will receive either a local Parks Canada field trip or $750 they can use for educational programming.

You can vote for your favourite video from across Canada on the My Parks Pass website, once a day until Feb. 18.