TDSB schools commemorate Remembrance Day

All schools in the Toronto District School Board held Remembrance Day assemblies to educate their students on the significance of this historical day.

Bryon Stevenson, the program coordinator at the TDSB says, “teachers will prepare their students by introducing, reviewing or consolidating information related to the event depending on the grade.”

Northern Secondary School held moving Remembrance Day assemblies at 10 a.m. for students. Breeshey Hibbert, a history teacher at Northern, and students helped organize, plan, and execute the educational assemblies. “The assemblies focused on the hope for a conflict-free future and our role in making that dream a reality,” says Ron Felsen, Principal at Northern. “We also learned about our school’s history during the Second World War.”

Today, students at Northern Secondary School looked at a page from a 1942 yearbook with pictures of extra-curricular activity clubs meant to prepare students to serve overseas after completing their studies. The clubs were a cadet, rifle-shooting, and swim club for both boys and girls.

Also, some students at Northern participated in a Remembrance Day ceremony this morning held on Juno Beach, France.

Harbord Collegiate Institute views Remembrance Day as the day to remember marginalized groups who served despite oppression at home, and those who displayed acts of courage. Today, they remembered Carola Douglas, a nurse during the war, and a graduate of Harbord Collegiate.

Daniel Leblanc, teacher and leader of the museum club at Harbord Collegiate says they’ve been planning their assemblies since last year. “[That’s how we’ve found] information on the nurse that we focused on today,” says Leblanc.

Douglas was nicknamed “blue birds” along with the other nurses during the war. She assisted with surgery and cared for convalescing soldiers. “Though not in the trenches, [nurses] often worked close to the front lines. Of the 2,054 Canadian nurses who served overseas, 53 died from enemy fire, disease, or drowning,” says Leblanc.

“I think that [teaching Remembrance Day] is very important],” says Leblanc. Remembering those who have made sacrifices for us, and those who were affected by war is what Remembrance Day means to Leblanc. “I hope that it teaches students the importance of selfless acts,” he says.

Leblanc takes his classes to visit two monuments, WWI and WWII, as well as brings them to see pictures of fallen soldiers in Harbord Collegiate’s foyer every year to educate students on the importance of Remembrance Day.

Across schools in the TDSB, about 80 to 90 per cent of students are seen wearing poppies.

The Ipsos survey for the Vimy Foundation, questioned 5,521 people in Canada, France, Germany, Britain, Belgium and the United States on their First World War knowledge.

The statistics show that 66 per cent of surveyed Canadians remember teachings on WWI. Also, most Canadians have heard about Vimy Ridge. “I’m very pleased to see that Canadians in general know about Vimy Ridge,” says Principal Felsen in comment to the Ipsos survey. “We do a lot at Northern to teach our students about WWI.”

“It is important that we help students make meaningful connections with the curriculum so that Remembrance Day is more than just about an assembly,” says Principal Felsen.