Students paid tribute to Canada’s war veterans during Remembrance Day ceremonies in schools across Toronto on Friday.
The ceremonies were held on a Friday because Nov. 11 falls on a Sunday this year.
At D.A. Morrison Middle School, students put their feelings on paper as part of a special project where they wrote stories of personal sacrifice or freedom.
Students with relatives who served in Canada’s Armed Forces wrote about their appreciation for their grandparents or others, while newcomers wrote tales about their families fleeing war-torn countries for a free Canada that this country’s war dead fought for.
“Those are their stories of freedom and that is what’s brought them here to Canada and to Toronto, for a new life and a new start,” said principal Marlene Wolinsky.
Wolinsky said students were asked to write messages after having conversations with their parents and grandparents.
“They care about freedom and recognize the freedom they have here in Canada,” Wolinsky told CP24 after the event.
War veterans attended the East York school’s morning ceremony, where students told their stories, read poems and sang songs after a moment of silence and a recording of the Last Post.
Hope, a Grade 7 student, told a story about what Remembrance Day means to her.
“It’s (a day) when people get together and remember those who have sacrificed their lives so that we can have a better life and the freedom we have today,” Hope told CP24’s Cam Woolley before the ceremony.
Earlier in the day, a sunrise ceremony was held at Bala Avenue Community School, near Jane Street and Weston Road, to honour aboriginal veterans.
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