Schools from Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) honoured Remembrance Day on November 6 this year, but for students at Bruderheim School, the lessons extended beyond the classroom and across the road. Grades 5 and 6 students spent the afternoon placing poppies on veterans' gravestones at Bruderheim Moravian Cemetery as part of the No Stone Left Alone campaign.
"We visited the graves and learned about all the people who passed away in the wars," says Emersyn Wilson-Curtis, a Grade 5 Bruderheim student. "They helped give us the freedom we have today, so it's really important that they are remembered and that we respect that they gave their lives."
A student places a poppy on a veteran's gravestone at Bruderheim Moravian Cemetary
Organized with the Bruderheim Agricultural Society, students visited veterans' graves that society volunteers had marked with Canadian flags. As they placed poppies, students asked teachers and volunteers questions about the veterans they were honouring, learning that sacrifices they commemorate each Remembrance Day can have connections close to home. The group was also joined by Corporal Ephrum Quinn, representing Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton, and Town of Bruderheim Councillor Luiz Dias, a 20-year military veteran. Both spoke to students about the importance of Remembrance Day and honouring Canada's veterans.
The visit followed the school's Remembrance Day ceremony earlier in the day, giving students an opportunity to put what they had learned about remembrance into action. While the events and people commemorated on Remembrance Day may feel distant in time and place, experiences like this show students that the sacrifices they learn about have connections to communities across Canada, including their own.
No Stone Left Alone Memorial Foundation is dedicated to honouring and remembering Canada's veterans. The initiative provides students and youth with authentic experiences that foster their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of those who serve and of the sacrifice of Canada's fallen.
