She heard of the program No Stone Left Alone during a radio broadcast on her commute to the school. She was inspired to check it out further, working her way through the website before checking in with teachers and representatives who had experience in setting up programs.
No Stone Left Alone has the mission of honouring Canada’s veterans by putting poppies on their graves prior to Remembrance Day. It got its start in 1971, when a 12-year old girl had a discussion with her mother, who was ill and near death. The mother was also a veteran and asked her daughter not to forget her on Armistice Day. The girl never did and went to the cemetery site every year, eventually taking her husband and children to lay a poppy on the grave. When her girls were older, they asked why the other veterans did not get a poppy. Eventually, the family decided every veteran should get one, and No Stone Left Alone began in 2011. The program is becoming more popular with schools, and in 2018, 9,236 students participated, visiting 105 cemeteries and honouring 58,941 members of the Canadian Armed Forces.
“The overall purpose is to really connect the students to the veterans.”
Much of the pre-teaching will be done by classroom teachers and advisors. It has already started in the classes. Representatives of the municipality, the Boissevain Legion, the school division and veterans have been invited into the classrooms.
Educational Assistant Sandra Pearce has a collection of artifacts and family memorabilia she shares with students and classes. This will be displayed at the school library during Remembrance Week. The public is welcome to visit and see it.
As well, those who have loved ones who served and are resting in the cemetery are encouraged to drop by the school and pick up a Canadian flag. They can then place them on their family member’s grave so students know where to put the poppies on November 5.
On that day, the school will participate in two ceremonies. The first will be with the K-6 students at the cemetery at 10:30am. The second will be at the War Memorial in front of the Boissevain Health Centre with the grade 7-12 students at 1:00pm. Woods said the sites were chosen because they were most identified with veterans in Boissevain.
“At the November 5 ceremony we will have speakers from the division, Legion and the school,” Woods explained. “We would consider this a semi-formal thing. At each ceremony I will explain our purpose for being there, we will sing Oh Canada, there will be greetings from the division, the town, the Legion, a poem to be read, and then we will lay poppies.”
Their traditional school ceremony will be held in the school gym on November 8. It will include music, poetry and acts of remembrance. Woods hopes the public will join them at any of their Remembrance Day events on both days.
It has been more than 100 years since the end of the First World War, the conflict that inspired Remembrance Day, and nearly 75 years since the end of the Second. There are fewer veterans each year. Woods says it is important for all of us, including the younger generation, to remember their contribution to our country.
“I do believe that children and communities are forgetting the sacrifices soldiers made and continue to make for us daily in areas around the world,” she stated. “Our main goal is to reinforce this message to all and to remind the students and families who these men and women are and what they did for us. My biggest suggestion would be for families to visit veterans, go to the Legion and attend ceremonies. As the years continue to go by we cannot forget the sacrifices that were made for us today.”
The Boissevain Legion will hold their annual Remembrance Day service at the Legion Hall on Monday, November 11. The memorial begins at 10:45am.
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff