SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Students at two Yellowknife schools got to be a part of Canadian history as they sang in what could be the largest recording session of the national anthem Wednesday.

Students from the Grade 2/3 class, the Grade 5 class and the Grade 7 class from Weledeh Catholic School gathered to make a digital recording of O Canada on Wednesday. The recording is set to be grouped with more than 27,000 students across the country to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

Rob Hanson, executive director of Hometown Music, a non-profit organization that seeks to develop and support music education programs across the country, visited J.H. Sissons School early in the morning where he organized 236 students to sing in French. In the afternoon, he met with 336 students from Weledeh Catholic School to sing in English.

The event is to mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag, which made its first official public appearance Feb. 15, 1965. Since that day 50 years later, Hanson said he has visited all the provinces and territories of Canada except for the Yukon, taking recordings of schoolchildren.

"We are coming to the end of our tour with two schools in Yellowknife," he said. "We invite schools to be part of it and they apply and it has been first-come first-serve. We limit it to two schools per community."

The tour has been supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Hanson said the government backed his group's effort to celebrate the Canadian flag and the country's heritage.

Hanson has attracted the participation of 27,752 students from across the country. His company is based in Whitby, Ont. After his tour, he said, he will be returning there to edit and complete the song recordings in three forms - one in English, one in French and one in both languages. He will then distribute recordings to public libraries across the country to use as a resource.

Hanson and teachers asked students not to screech the song or compete to sing the loudest.

The recording will also be associated with a film documentary he is overseeing which will feature children from all across Canada talking about what the flag means to their hometown.

Grade 7 Weledeh student Niav Parteger was chosen to represent her school for the documentary and wrote a story about what the flag means to Yellowknife.

"I guess it means that they are really proud to have so many students from Yellowknife and all over Canada really, to be proud to represent Canada and the flag," Parteger said. "I am really proud to represent the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag."

Weledeh vice-principal Jenny Reid helped move waves of classes in and out of the the music room Thursday. She said she was contacted by Hanson earlier in the year and thought it was a great idea for her students. The program even gave them the chance to study the story of the flag and the country.

"I think it is fantastic," she said.

"A lot of the kids don't have the time to sit down and look at where their country comes from or what the history is. So it is great the Canadian government is putting this at the forefront and making it a priority."

Hanson also encouraged students to upload artwork and other writings that celebrate the flag to his organization's website at www.flagofcanada.ca in order to create a historical document for future generations.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.