A trip overseas for Eagle River Secondary students is paying off in the classroom.
In March, 11 of the high school’s students took part in a tour overseas called Canada and the World Wars. The 10-day journey took them through Berlin, Amsterdam, France and Normandy.
Highlights of the trip included a visit to the Vimy Ridge Memorial and being able to participate in the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
For Ryan Laderoute, the trip provided an opportunity to acquire greater insight into the places he’s read and talked about in his studies of the world wars.
“Going to the sites that we studied was quite amazing because we knew what happened there, and they gave us a deeper understanding of what went on, like what squadron did what and how they were successful with the battles,” said Laderoute.
Teacher Kyla Hadden, who accompanied the students, says she is seeing a similar response among students in her History 12 class.
“Every time we talk about something, ‘Oh, we saw that there,’ which is really cool,” said Hadden. “My vision is the Grade 9 and 10s that came with us, when they get into Socials 11, which is when we cover world war one and two, they’re going to have all these personal connections to the stuff we’re learning about.”
Hadden would like to see more educational travel opportunities arranged for students in the near future.
“We’re hoping that this trip will kind of re-ignite that practice, and we’re looking at probably every two years, so we’re looking at doing another trip, probably in the spring of 2016.”
For Laderoute, the stop in Belgium was a definite highlight, and he says Belgium waffles and chocolate live up to their reputation. Another highlight, however, was making contact with a Belgian serviceman, who he’s remained friends with over the Internet.
“He was telling me about some of the wars he’s been in and how Canadians have helped out, and he kept thanking us, thanking ‘you Canadians’ for helping us out when we needed it,” said Laderoute. “I felt really good and proud to be Canadian, and I looked at him and said, ‘You’re welcome,and thank you for just being polite and everything.’ And then he laughed and said, ‘You Canadians are too polite.’