It’s Thursday morning at Margaret Manson Elementary in Kirkland, in Montreal’s West Island, and hundreds of students are standing in complete silence to remember those who died in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
“I think it’s amazing. We can all get together to support these families and these kids,” said Ashley Leblanc, a Grade 5 student.
Like many schools across Canada, teachers at Margaret Manson said they wanted to show support for the families who have lost so much.
READ MORE: ‘Jersey Day’ for Humboldt Broncos spreads across Canada — and the world
“Any comfort we can give these families just by a small little gesture, by supporting them, wearing our jerseys, we want to help them any way we can,” said physical education teacher Kim Poirier.
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The Jersey Day idea came from a few B.C. hockey moms who wanted to show the families of the victims that Canada stands with them.
READ MORE: First funeral of Humboldt Broncos bus crash victims to be held
The idea quickly caught on across the country.
“I hope they feel supported, I hope they feel the love, the empathy and compassion from our students and everyone across Canada,” said Margaret Manson principal Stephanie Herault.
Students who didn’t have jerseys were invited to wear Humbolt Broncos green or yellow.
WATCH BELOW: A moment of silence for Humboldt
“I find that if I wear one of their colours, it would be nice for them and supporting them,” said Grade 5 student Gabriele Follano, who was wearing a green shirt.
During the moment of silence, Follano said he put himself in the victims’ shoes.
“I was thinking, imagine if I was on that bus with all my friends and we crashed and how our families would have felt,” he told Global News.
It was also a teaching opportunity, “to remind students about giving — giving back to the community, standing in solidarity, there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from this,” said Herault.
“This is really a reminder to all of us to take a step back, slow down, talk with our families at the dinner table, have those conversations with our children.”
“Even ‘how was your day?’ type conversations. We really need to take a minute to embrace everything we have.”
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The students said they hope their message reaches all the way to Humboldt.
“We’re sad about what happened and we’re trying to help them,” said Sophia Jefferson, a Grade 6 student.
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