Keeping peace in the community
Louie Norwegian students learn the importance of Remembrance Day
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, November 19, 2015
TTHEK'EHDELI/JEAN MARIE RIVER
At Louie Norwegian School in Jean Marie River, teacher Dave Madden has been working to incorporate the message of Remembrance Day into his classroom teachings.
Students at Louie Norwegian School learned the meaning of Remembrance Day and keeping peace with one another this month. Keegan Menacho, left, motions to the poster students put together alongside classmates Martin Antoine, Shaylyn Hope, Zayden Kraus, Esmeralda Antoine and Zaida Sanguez. - photo courtesy of Dave Madden
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Madden, who is acting principal at the school of six students, will be teaching until Dec. 18.
This month, students participated in a school Remembrance Day ceremony and learned about the sacrifices soldiers made during the First World War.
They also learned the importance of extending respect to those who gave their lives to the community as a whole.
"We have to be respectful to other people. I learned how to get along and work together with fellow students, and how important that is," said 12-year-old Esmeralda Antoine.
"I learned a lot."
Madden credits his wife Nancy for the ideas leading to a poster they created promoting peace.
Nancy is also a teacher, and has been volunteering her time at the school.
"We're pretty lucky right now to have six students and three adults in the building. We're fortunate," Madden said.
The lessons of Remembrance Day have been an effective anti-bullying tool for students as well.
"In a school of six, they're a fairly cohesive group anyway but it's always good to remind them about getting along," Madden said.
"Our lesson was a bit of an offshoot, in terms of talking about Remembrance Day and why we're lucky in Canada to keep the peace. It's important in the curriculum to talk about getting along and being able to resolve differences."
In particular, Madden said, it gives students perspective on how to interact with each other as they grow.
Teaching remembrance an important task
He said teaching this is an important task for any teacher.
"Sometimes it doesn't matter the size of the school," he said.
"It's the individuals in there making sure they're all educated in terms of conflict resolution and those kinds of things."
The school's Remembrance Day ceremony had students read In Flanders Fields and other poems, as well as watch a video.
They also held a moment of silence.
