They’re too young to have memories of most wars Canada has been involved in, but students at Leonardo Da Vinci Academy are eager to learn about the country’s military history. Dozens took part in the Je Me Souviens program at their school on Thursday. It’s an interactive education program that includes videos, learning modules, and getting to see military uniforms from the past up close. Grade 6 student Francesca Newland was surprised by some of the Canadian military facts. “I learned that the Afghanistan war was the longest war, and that really surprised me because I thought World War I was really long,” she said. Her classmate Matteo Perrotta was surprised to learn that many soldiers who served in the First and Second World Wars were just teenagers. “Being close to being in high school, the fact that these young men were going to fight for us was shocking,” said Perrotta. Je Me Souviens has been visiting schools since 2018. It’s run by Canada Company, a non-partisan charity. In addition to in-school programming, it also provides free online tools for teachers at both the elementary and high school levels on themes such as Respect, Responsibility, Remembrance Day and Bravery. Program Manager Marina Smyth said the aim is to help teachers explain military history to their students in interesting and dynamic ways, while keeping within the Quebec curriculum. “We have resources on World War I and II, and it includes many things like these exhibitions that we bring into schools, but also, digital resources,” she said. EMSB animator Vince Lacroce likes that the program helps open a dialogue with students about present-day contributions the military makes here at home. “Our Canadian forces have been instrumental with the fires that were going on in Canada, flooding, and we look at what they did for Covid with the seniors,” he said.
