By Victoria Blinkhorn and Denise Dale
This article first appeared in B.C.Parent Magazine, June 2000

What does: 210 pieces of paper and school notices 75 art masterpieces 14 notebooks 4 school and team photos 3 report cards 1 sugar-cube castle project 1 school planner equal?

Chaos? Not anymore! While all the information does signal the end of a busy school year, it shouldn't cause you grief, or find you stuffing everything under the bed to sort through another time just so you can get on with the summer holidays. Here's a better idea … and its fun too! Create a school memory box (click here) with your child. Not only is the school memory box a fun project, it is a unique historical marker! Kids love to look at things about them and created by them. That's why taking the time now to select and preserve a sample of their school achievements and treasures will be an ongoing source of enjoyment and reflection for both you and your child - and possibly their children some day.

Where to start?

Start by marking a day on the calendar when you can spend an afternoon with your child sifting through school papers and projects. If your child is keen to start, then by all means go ahead. However, you may find it best to wait for a few weeks when the initial excitement of summer vacation has passed and your child is willing to think about school again!

Next select a memory box. Ideally, this box will be an acid-free archival document box with acid-free file folders. Document boxes will easily fit the odd-sized items as well as protect your child's treasures in a chemically neutral environment, something to keep in mind when preserving any keepsakes.
Gather together in one place all the school paper work and then separate out bulky projects like sugar-cube castles, oversized artwork, and projects made from organic materials or water. For these items, take a picture of your child proudly displaying these creations. Keep the picture - turf the actual project. Unless it is REALLY important to your child to keep it, try to be content with the photo memory. Never store that kind of treasure permanently with other items.
Sort the remaining items into categories. Either make it chronological (all of Bille's Grade 2 work) or thematic: report cards, class pictures, awards and certificates, report books, exercise books, "prep" or school planner books, special theme folders, exams and tests, essays, published work (ie: poems in the school newspaper), art work, cards or tributes, newspaper articles about your child (ie: achievements, sports) and yearbooks.

What to Keep?

Go for the gold! Select the best or most representative! To avoid repetition and bulk, you need to "edit" the treasures for relevance and meaning. Keep the essential items, such as report cards, class pictures and awards, but beyond this minimum, it is up to you! Some suggestions to help you choose: for "firsts," "achievements," "essences", "originals," and self-portraits.
Keep the "child-to-storage space" ratio firmly planted in your head selecting. It your child just can't bear to part with stuff you know doesn't need keeping, then suggest that it go into his or her custody until the "natural selection" phenomena of all households takes its eventual toll.

What not to keep?

Skip repetitive items, printed workbooks, unless they contain remarkable entries (just remove those pages and keep them), class notes, notices, or a lot of photographs. The object of a memory box is to keep things that don't fit into a photo album … that's why so many scrapbookers find it a natural companion piece to their albums.
Once selected, place the items into file folders - again acid-free file folders best - in the memory box. Label each folder in pencil with the items and date. Think of the future! You can either keep all the school memories from one year together in a file, anticipating more to come, or have thematic folders (ie: report cards, k-12). We have found that on average, one box for elementary school and one box for high school does the trick.
A school memory box is a great esteem-builder for children and in addition to holding vital keepsakes safely for years to come, keeps them organized and accessible.

Now, what does 210 pieces of paper and school notices 75 art masterpieces 14 notebooks 4 school and team photos 3 report cards 1 sugar-cube castle project 1 school planner equal? School memories organized for life!

Victoria Blinkhorn, an archivist, is the co-founder of The Family Jewels Archival Preservation Co. The School Memory Box, created out of desperation and modelled on document appraisal and storage in archival institutions, was the first product in Family Jewels' growing family of "industrial strength preservation kits for life's treasures." Click here for info on the School Memory Box and the Artwork Box.

Denise Dale is a librarian specializing in organizing personal papers and information. Dale is co-author of At Your Fingertips: A Household Filing System that Works for You and its sequel At Your Fingertips in the Office. Visit Denise at www.streamlinebooks.com for more information.