Local public school board students are working to make history enticing to all of us.
On Monday, schools from across the Upper Canada District School Board came together for a showcase event at the Kemptville District Community Centre as part of We Were Here and the National Hill 70 project.
The remains of approximately 120 soldiers were discovered in a commune in France in the spring of 2022 while construction crews were digging a foundation for a new hospital.
That fall, the UCDSB and other partners began the project with students taking on the role of researchers and learning about the lives of the Canadian soldiers found at the site and then working to share their stories.
Students from across the district reviewed service records and attestation forms, pulling out key information about the fallen soldiers that will be entered into a national database of soldier service files from Library and Archives Canada.
They also produced original biographies that will be shared with future projects in Eastern Ontario and France commemorating the service of Canadians during the First World War.
Cameron Jones is the Principal of Real-World Learning and Student Success with the UCDSB and he says the students made the soldier’s stories come alive.
“It’s one thing to learn facts, dates, it’s another thing to learn those facts and dates in the context of a human being that comes from your community.”
A group of 21 students and educators from the board will make the trip to France in the fall where they will continue to teach others about their work.
