Anna Buck
Carihi Mirror
The Carihi student community is taking time to remember our history this Remembrance Day.
One-hundred years from Armistice, students are feeling the importance of honouring the sacrifices Canadians have made to their country.
Grade 12 student Ella Miner says it’s important, saying Remembrance Day is about “showing our respect and making sure we are grateful for everything [others] have done. We have this beautiful country that is a lot safer than it once was… [and] I think it’s important to remember everyone… who played a part.”
Katanna Ingalls agrees. She is in Grade 11 and believes that high school students, in particular, could benefit from a greater level of recognition of the holiday’s significance.
“It’s important to learn about [our history] because… wars are still something that could happen and are happening around the world,” Ingalls says. “Things like that shouldn’t be a surprise.”
Chris Gillies-Eggenberger, also in Grade 11, has an altogether different view of Remembrance Day.
“It’s controversial,” Gillies-Eggenberger says. “[There] are students who think Remembrance Day is a great thing. The past is the past, and we can learn from it. [But Remembrance Day is] not serving a purpose other than taking time away to be sad.”
But for Ryan Mclean, Remembrance Day is very significant.
“I think it is an important holiday, if not the most important,” Mclean says. “Really I do think it’s something we should all participate in.”
Among students, even those who feel that Remembrance Day is important, the majority seem to feel that they do not have sufficient understanding of why the holiday is significant, or that it receives enough attention. Many are also surprised that we’ve reached 100 years since the end of the First World War.
“I had no idea,” Miner says. “I actually feel kind of guilty for not knowing that. We’re all so busy that we kind of forget what’s really important and how we got here to begin with.”
“I am surprised that it’s been 100 years,” Ingalls says, adding that while they heard a lot about Remembrance Day in elementary school, it has really dropped off in secondary, and he feels it would be good if it was brought up more often and in more depth.
“I feel like sometimes people forget. Whatever has happened in the past has kind of faded away,” grade 12 student Catherine Le says.
Sylvie Johnston is another student who feels youth could have a better grasp of what the holiday commemorates.
“I feel like we should definitely learn more about it,” Johnston says. “We wouldn’t be what we are today is it wasn’t for those [sacrifices].”
Today (Nov. 9), Carihi students will be taking some time out of their day to attend an assembly in remembrance of the people who have given their lives for ours. This year’s assembly will focus largely on the First World War, particularly on the events of the year 1918, especially the armistice that ended the fighting of the First World War.
Iain Jeffrey, French teacher and coordinator of this year’s assembly at Carihi, hopes that students will take the time to participate in Remembrance Day.
“Young people need to know that their forebears had their youth stolen in some cases,” Jeffrey says. “I think that in a lot of cases young people see Remembrance Day as little more than a tradition. Understanding the importance of history and our country’s role in that history is a life-long voyage of learning. I would hope that Remembrance Day is helping [youth] start that journey and further develop it each year.”
The assembly will involve two student narrators and Masters of Ceremony, bagpipes played by Brian Shaw, the local Cadets and one of their leaders, Sean Smith, and musical numbers from Carihi’s band and choir led by Beth Kingston, along with a reading of John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.” Students will also hear from guest speaker, Colonel Jon Ambler.
The assembly promises to be a powerful one, and one that will likely have an impact on all who attend.