GHS grad honored by London newspaper

LONDON - A Gainesville High graduate has been singled out by a British newspaper for a history teaching concept she created.

Guy Fox History Project is described by The Guardian newspaper as a small south London charity that uses art and its creation to bring the city's heritage and culture to life for children in the borough of Southwark.

The concept was created four years ago by Kourtney Braff-Harper, a former Gainesvillian.

Braff-Harper is the project's voluntary creative director.

Aided by many artistic volunteers - including design professionals who have worked on the Harry Potter films - school and community workshops for children have poured out a multimedia kaleidoscope of CDs, maps, magazines, posters and websites, according to the newspaper. These are distributed free to thousands of children via schools and libraries, so that both the process and the products are entertaining and educational.

"It was an honour to win such a prestigious award and an opportunity to tell a national audience about our work, our philosophy and our creative vision," Braff-Harper told The Guardian. "The Guy Fox History Project started with a tiny mission - to publish an illustrated history magazine for children - but we expanded our work because children wanted to participate in the creative process. This award is an endorsement of their enthusiasm and commitment."

The project's workshops help children aged nine to 13 to develop a sense of history, acquire new skills and feel more confident. Given a sketchbook and asked to draw every day, "suddenly they're looking at the world around them, engaging with it, and truly studying the things that surround them."

Braff-Harper said the project will use the 5,000 pound ($9,161) award to try to find commercial opportunities to become a self-sustaining social enterprise.

"We can now accelerate our vision for the future and bring forward our plans for sustaining our charity work through business development," Harper says. "We'll hire a development expert to help us build our organisation so that we can cultivate opportunities that are restricted by our current structure."