Schools across Saskatchewan held Remembrance Day services on Thursday, to educate students about Canadian and Indigenous Canadian veterans that served and continue to serve the country.
Students at E.D. Feehan Catholic High School in Saskatoon took time out from class to gather for a Remembrance service Thursday morning.
Students participated in an assembly that included a laying of the wreaths, a commemoration of those who served, and an education portion on Indigenous veterans who fought in the war.
Mark Steckler, senior history teacher at E.D. Feehan said Remembrance Day ceremonies had been lost over the past few years due to the pandemic.
“It is important for students to know (veterans) risked their lives … for us so we can live a free life here in Canada today. I think for students, a lot of them don’t know about the World Wars. World War I was over 100 years ago now, there’s a gap in history now. We want to make sure that those stories continue to be told.”
“We have a large Indigenous population,” said Steckler. “It is also really important that we talk about the Indigenous contributions to the war. For a lot of our students, I think that gives them a connect to the history as well.”
“Remembrance Day is important to me because it helps recognize the people that made sacrifices in the past,” said Arturo Rodriguez, Grade 12 senior. “It helps show that the things we have, we can’t take for granted and we have to be grateful for the things we have that people sacrificed their life for us. It is a day of respect and a day of understanding that what we have doesn’t come free.”
Rodriguez said he has been participating in Remembrance Day opportunities since the first grade.
“Everyone is very understanding of the cause and of what is happening, why we do what we do. It’s a really great community to have and a really great opportunity to show and remember what happened and realize why we have what we have today.”
Students attended Remembrance ceremonies Thursday, since there is no school on Friday, but services will be available to the public for community attendance.
The 91st Saskatoon Remembrance Day Service will take place Nov. 11 with a public event at the SaskTel Centre. Doors will open at 9 a.m. and the service will begin at 10 a.m.
Regina will also be offering an in-person service at the Brandt Centre at 10:30 a.m., open to the public.
The Saskatoon service will be available for streaming on Shaw Spotlight for Saskatchewan-wide viewing, and on http://www.saskatoonremembers.ca.
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