OCDSB Commemorates Remembrance Day Tuesday, November 11, 2014 In Schools & Work Sites

From A. Y Jackson Secondary School to Westwind Public School, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board students and staff will come together on

Tuesday, November 11

– Remembrance Day to honour Canada’s past and present members of the Canadian armed forces (soldiers, sailors and airmen).

Ceremonies will include assemblies, choir and glee club presentations, reading of poems and dramatic productions. Students have spent many weeks researching the importance of celebrating the day that marks the date and time when armies stopped fighting in World War I. on

November 11th

at

11am

in 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month). Some 100,000 Canadian soldiers died in the First and Second World Wars.

John McCrae Secondary School students and staff are renowned for their commitment to honouring veterans in our community, our province, our country and throughout the world.  Earlier this month school administrators received a request from Genevieve Cimon, the Director of Music Education and Community Engagement of the NAC, to create a memorial to accompany the orchestra on their trip to Great Britain.  The NAC is presently engaged in a series of workshops and performances in Great Britain as part of Great Britain’s 100th Anniversary memorial of WW1.

It was determined that a wreath would be designed under the direction of Art teacher, Micheal Goodson, the wreath, (see attached photo), incorporates artistic and memorial characteristics of the students at John McCrae Secondary School. Mr. Goodson along with students Zarina Chekh, Talan Hasan, Kiera Hullett, and Kayla Dougan, created the design of the wreath which incorporates a transition of the old to the new as the experience of WW1 transformedCanada from a colony to a Nation. The wreath will be placed in Hyde Park at the Canadian Memorial.

During their Royal performance in London the NAC will be performing “Flanders Fields.” The wreath will be presented on behalf of John McCrae Secondary School students to officials in London. The veteran’s names and locations on the wreath come from the memorial trips that 150 John McCrae Secondary students have participated in over the past 8 years. These trips organized by History teacher Brent Howard have allowed the students the opportunity to research these veterans and then be present at their WWI and WWII grave sites in Europe.

The poem “Flanders Field” is in the middle of the wreath to honour the school’s namesake and to honour their commitment to “Lest we Forget”.

Many educators believe that ultimately, it’s important to understand that generations of veterans have served our country and have made sacrifices and contributions that ensure we live in a free and peaceful country. Once students understand this, they can understand the importance of thanking them and remembering their contributions.