Local schools observed Remembrance Day virtually this year from their classrooms, prior to the Nov. 11 holiday.
Traditionally, Aurora Middle School students gather in the gymnasium for in-school events to participate in the moment of silence and hear speeches from veterans and the community. But the impacts of COVID have forced that to be commemorated with only classroom cohorts again this year, says Principal Conal Donovan.
Despite the restrictions, says Donovan, students still had the opportunity to engage with in-class activities, hear important messages about veterans who sacrificed their lives and with some students reciting John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields poem through a video presentation put together by the school.
It was different, says Grade 4/5 teacher Monique Ulliac, who had her students draw Canadian flags to symbolize the day. However, the most impactful part, she says, was a book called A Bear in War by Harry Endrulat and Stephanie Innes that was read to different classes by the school’s Elder in Residence story-teller Dianne Ludwig.
The true story—that was very difficult to get through—says Ulliac, details how a teddy bear that was given to a father by his daughter found its way home with his belongings after he was killed during World War I.
“The children’s story is very sad but shows how difficult it was for families to deal with loved ones away at war,” Ulliac said.
Even with the COVID regulations in mind, it still allowed students to learn and remember those who sacrificed their lives for current freedoms.
While most schools in the region held their in-school events on November 10, many school-age children were at the Lac La Biche Legion’s Remembrance Day ceremonies on November 11.
The importance of the Remembrance Day events, especially to the younger generations is important, says Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov.
“We must continue these traditions, the marches, the trumpets, the silence, when we respect these traditions .. we honour what's best in all of us, the capacity to sacrifice ourselves for those we love," he said at the November 11 outdoor event at the Lac La Biche Legion’s cenotaph.
