WELLINGTON COUNTY – Students at public and Catholic schools in Wellington County will recognize Remembrance Day in a variety of ways next week.
Upper Grand District School Board spokesperson Heather Loney said “Schools and departments … are honouring Remembrance Day through meaningful learning and reflection.”
From Nov. 10 to 14, students will take part in assemblies, classroom activities and community events to recognize the service and sacrifices of veterans.
At Wellington Heights Secondary School (WHSS) in Mount Forest, the Remembrance Day flag will fly and white crosses will be set up on the lawn to represent veterans who did not return from the First and Second World Wars.
Each cross has the name of a veteran from the Arthur and Mount Forest areas, and those names are also engraved on a plaque inside the school.
Canadian and world studies teacher Ken Kivell organizes the Remembrance Day activities, along with support from teacher Colton Wallace this year.
Kivell said the veterans’ plaque was “created by former history teacher Ian Turner who saw this as an opportunity to bring the two school communities together when the Arthur and Mount Forest high schools amalgamated.”
On Nov. 11, students from the high school will attend services in Mount Forest and Arthur and lay a wreath at both cenotaphs.
Principal Brent Bloch told the Community News Kivell “does an outstanding job.”
Kivell said it’s important to him to offer Remembrance Day activities to the students because he sees his generation as the last to have been part of first-hand conversations with veterans about the horrors of war.
“Many of the younger generation will never get that opportunity,” he said.
Kivell’s grandfather was part of the Canadian Navy and saw action in the North Atlantic during the Second World War.
“I feel it is my duty to remember and appreciate their sacrifice and share some of their stories in hopes that we never have to go through that again,” he said.
“There are many parts of Remembrance Day that are important, but I feel that it is a time to appreciate the fact that what we have in Canada has been earned and it came at a very high cost.”
WHSS secondary students are very receptive and respectful of the messages of Remembrance Day, Kivell noted, which he said “is a tribute to the Wellington North community, the elementary schools in the area and the two Legions that have fostered this appreciation.
“Both the Arthur and Mount Forest Legions do a fantastic job of reaching out to schools and assisting us in any activities that we do at our local schools.
“They organize the Legion poster/literary contest as well as the ceremonies at the cenotaphs among many other activities.”
Norwell District Secondary School students and staff in Palmerston will be honouring veterans on Nov. 10.
Norwell’s Arts Performance Project and theatre students will present Stand Together in honour of Indigenous Veterans’ Day and Remembrance Day.
“It is a mixed media presentation that includes live action, music and film and reflects upon Canada’s involvement in military conflicts throughout history and our continued presence as a peacekeeping force all over the world,” Norwell staff member Mackenzie Norman told the Community News.
“Stand Together will be presented in the morning for the Norwell student body and again at 1:30pm for local public schools and surrounding community.”
The free event will be performed in the EC Gray Auditorium at the school.
Many schools are welcoming special guests, including local Legion members and speakers from the National Speakers Program.
Students across grades are also engaging in local ceremonies. For example, some Grade 7 and 8 classes will attend services at their community cenotaphs, while younger students will participate in school-based ceremonies that may include songs, morning music, bulletin board displays and shared moments of silence.
In some communities, staff are partnering with local groups such as local Optimist Clubs to help plan Remembrance Day events that bring students and families together.
The board’s Indigenous Education team has prepared resources to support educators in teaching about Indigenous Veterans Day (Nov. 8) and the important contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Veterans.
Catholic schools
At the Wellington Catholic District School Board, spokesperson Bianca Pettinaro said “All of our schools will be recognizing Remembrance Day through a variety of activities, assemblies, liturgies and in-class learning.”
At Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School, a Remembrance Day flag raising ceremony was held on Oct. 31.
“Students who are cadets [were to] take part in the ceremony, and the flag will remain raised for most of the month,” Pettinaro stated in an email.
The school also set to hold a Remembrance Day liturgy on Nov. 11.
At Our Lady of Lourdes (OLOL) Catholic High School students are set to visit the Sleeman Centre for the City of Guelph’s Remembrance Day ceremony.
OLOL will also hold its annual veteran’s panel on Nov. 6.
