Edmonton high school honoured former student and fallen soldier

Leading up to Remembrance Day, Edmonton’s Eastglen High School honoured a former student who lost his life for his country.

Michael Hayakaze is a former Eastglen High School student who served in Afghanistan.

On March 2, 2008, Hayakaze was killed by a roadside bomb.

The students who now walk the hallways at Eastglen have learned about Hayakaze’s sacrifice.

The Blue Devils football team paid tribute to the fallen soldier during a pep rally before their semi-final game and again during the contest, when they wore a poppy was emblazoned on the helmet of each player.

“It gave a lot of the boys a lot of motivation, too, something to play for,” Blue Devils head coach Kent Anderson said.

“We were all doing the game for him. I think we all went out there ready to play our best and I think we did play our best,” Blue Devils quarterback Bailey Wood said.

Eastglen won the game handily.

“We’re really proud of Michael and what he did for our country. We’re really glad we could honour him,” Anderson said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're really proud of Michael and what he did for our country. We're really glad we could honour him," Anderson said.

There has been a broader commitment at Eastglen to recognize the sacrifice of all Canadian soldiers.

A woman known as “the school mom” has been behind the movement. Lisa Baldwin works in the school cafeteria and her husband served on the same mission as Hayakaze.

Eight years later, she doesn’t want the young man’s courage to be forgotten.

“He was only 25 years old. He had so much more to offer,” Baldwin said. “No parent wants their child to not come home.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He was only 25 years old. He had so much more to offer," Baldwin said. "No parent wants their child to not come home."

Every November, Baldwin makes her own monument of remembrance in the cafeteria: it includes a photo of Hayakaze. It goes beyond the job description, but it’s paying off.

“They were actually stopping and reading and they were like, ‘oh, he went to Eastglen? He was a Blue Devils,'” Baldwin said.

Hayakaze’s legacy means much more to those on and off the field because he was just like them.

“We all respect him and we all are here honouring him,” Wood said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We all respect him and we all are here honouring him," Wood said.

“That’s what we’re trying to do: trying to get these young men to develop and be good citizens. I think that was a huge lesson for them,” Anderson said.

Hayakaze was a member of Edmonton’s Lord Strathcona’s Horse Regiment.