Students from the Cobequid Education Centre in Truro are bringing healing back into the community of Debert, N.S., by honouring victims killed in the 2020 mass shooting.
It’s been four years since the tragedy, and the students mark each anniversary by carrying out acts of kindness.
On Thursday, the students walked through Hearts Haven Memorial Park — a place created to honour Kristen Beaton and Heather O’Brien, two of the 22 victims of the mass shooting — planting forget-me-not seeds throughout the park and along the trail.
Shannon Wolfe, a teacher at Cobequid Educational Centre, said the planting was intended “to build empathy, have compassion and to show that there are ways to remember a sad occurrence in a really positive and intentional way.”
Wolfe said the park was the perfect place to carry out their yearly tradition. “It represents what this community needs. We need a place to come to remember, to reflect.”
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Community member Kevin O’Brien, who visits the park a few times a week, agreed. “To be able to put a positive spin and have the things that we lost close to us still remembered in a positive way… I think that’s great,” he said.
Liam Young, a student who attended the trip, appreciated the opportunity to share the moment with his classmates and have an impact on the community.
“I feel really grateful that we got to come on this trail and be together as a family,” he said. “Seeing all the kids having fun on this trail, exploring, being so generous, kind, respectful. That’s what it means to be in Nova Scotia.”
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