Grand Erie Schools Commemorating Remembrance Day with Special Events and Activities

Students and staff across Grand Erie District School Board will recognize Remembrance Day on Friday, November 9, preparing a variety of activities and events to honour the Canadian heroes who served our county in the name of freedom.

“Remembrance Day is an important occasion for the Board, and a chance to come together as we honour our history and heed its lessons,” said Brenda Blancher, Director of Education. “For teaching staff, it’s an opportunity to connect world events of the past and present to students’ lives in the promotion of peace, equity and inclusion.”

Classroom lessons and activities, school-wide assemblies, and student-led presentations are the result of weeks of preparation, with many schools honouring guests including veterans and historians.

North Park Collegiate and Vocational School in Brantford will welcome special guests including Sabrina Sawyer, Indigenous Education Lead for Grand Erie, to highlight the contributions of Indigenous peoples in serving the country.

In Simcoe, West Lynn Public School will highlight the unique friendship between Canada and the Netherlands following World War II during a school-wide assembly.

Jarvis Public School in Haldimand County has planned a visit to the cemetery’s cenotaph to pay tribute to local heroes.

A full list of events includes:

Brant/Brantford Schools

• Branlyn Community School is hosting an assembly with Notre Dame Catholic Elementary
• Cedarland Public School is holding an assembly presented by the Life Skills class
• Echo Place School is hosting a school-wide assembly
• Glen Morris Central Public School will have all classrooms participate in respecting and thanking the sacrifices made by soldiers and veterans
• Graham Bell-Victoria Public School is hosting a school-wide assembly
• Greenbrier Public School is hosting a local veteran who will speak during a school-wide ceremony as well as with individual classes
• James Hillier Public School students have prepared a slideshow featuring members from the school’s community who have served. Their choir and ukulele group will perform
• King George School is hosting a school-wide assembly
• Major Ballachey Public School is hosting a school-wide assembly with special guest Scott Hoo, a Master Bombardier with the Royal Canadian Air Force
• North Park Collegiate and Vocational School will host an assembly with a special focus on highlighting the service of Indigenous men and women
• Oakland-Scotland Public School hosts its annual ceremony
• Onondaga-Brant Public School presents special guest Historian Bob Ion, as well as an exhibit highlighting the role of service animals in battle
• Paris District High School’s instrumental music and vocal classes will perform during an assembly planned by the school’s history department
• Pauline Johnson Collegiate and Vocational School’s Grade 11 Enriched English class is organizing this year’s assembly
• Tollgate Technological Skills Centre is hosting an assembly with veterans and their families as special guests

Haldimand Schools

• Caledonia Centennial Public School will host veteran Sergeant Gillis who will discuss the importance of the day. Staff and students will also join the service at the town’s cenotaph
• Cayuga Secondary School’s assembly is being organized by a Grade 10 history class. It will focus on the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War. The school band, including a piper, will perform
• Hagersville Elementary School is hosting an assembly with members of the local Legion in attendance. The Veterans’ Speakers Program is also sending a member of the Canadian Navy to speak with students in Grades 4-8
• Hagersville Secondary School is hosting an assembly featuring the Hagersville Legion Colour Guard
• Jarvis Public School staff and students will visit the Jarvis cenotaph to pay tribute to local heroes
• Rainham Central Public School is hosting an assembly with members of the Legion in attendance

Norfolk Schools

• Bloomsburg Public School is hosting an annual assembly with each class presenting a poem or song
• Boston Public School is hosting an assembly with Legion members in attendance, and presentations by students
• Courtland Public School is holding an assembly to remember the 100 years since Armistice
• Delhi District Secondary School is hosting an assembly with members of the Legion in attendance
• Delhi Public School is hosting a service with parents invited and representatives from the Legion in attendance. Each class is presenting a wreath
• Elgin Avenue Public School is hosting a ceremony on Thursday, November 8
• Lakewood Elementary School is holding an assembly with each class presenting a memorial wreath
• Langton Public School is taking part in a service at 10:45 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church, joining students from Sacred Heart School for this event
• Lynndale Heights Public School is hosting a ceremony with a variety of students presenting songs and poems
• Mt. Pleasant School is hosting a student-run assembly, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I
• Simcoe Composite School’s student council is organizing an assembly, highlighting local heroes who served
• Valley Heights Secondary School is hosting an assembly with special guest Corporal Jason Barnim of CFB Trenton and the Department of National Defence
• Walsh Public School is hosting a student-led assembly
• Waterford Public School is hosting a school-wide assembly and will have staff and students attending the community service at the cenotaph
• West Lynn Public School has an assembly planned to highlight the unique friendship between Canada and the Netherland following World War II