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A respectful silence
Melissa WELSH
Abbotsford News
On Thursday, Rick Hansen Secondary School was among numerous local schools holding ceremonies to mark Remembrance Day, and honour the victims of wars past and present. Eight hundred students stood up to welcome the four veterans who marched into the gymnasium. During the “Last Post,” everyone in attendance bowed their heads for the two minutes of silence. “I heard people sniffling,” said Grade 12 student Gagan Lidhran. “Having the veterans there, made a difference.” She wished the students heard more from them. The presentation included a speech by principal Julie Rousseau, a reading of the
“Last Poem,” and “In Flanders Fields.” A music video of George Canyon’s song “I Want You To Live,” depicted a story of two soldiers, only one returning home. At the end, one soldier says he is there so his kids don’t have to be. “That was really touching,” Lidhran said. Rousseau also showed a video she captured when meeting two veterans visiting the World Trade Centre Memorial. Both lost limbs from the war in Afghanistan. The crowd gasped when one of the men said he had six children. “In that moment you saw him as a daddy,” Rousseau said. “The video added a flavour of authenticity. I wanted my students to connect, put a face to a name.”
BRITNEY JUDD
Contributor
Rick Hansen Secondary principal Julie Rousseau addresses students, with an honour guard of veterans standing by.
‘I knew t From A1
Nine hundred died during training in Canada. Some of those tragedies are still vivid for Stevenson. Sitting on the tarmac waiting to fly back to Dauphin from the MacDonald base, Stevenson and another man saw a plane crash. The aircraft streamed a heavy cloud of black smoke, taking a nosedive into the flatlands. Nearly 15 months later, he saw the surname Stevenson on the daily routine orders posted in the morning. It had the initials A.T. He made an effort The to meet the pilot who coincidentally had his Lord was name. Alan Stevenson had looking out just returned from for me. hospital. Thirty-two skin grafts covered his Stevenson face. On fire, his Fairey Battle bomber had gone down, and the burning fuel engulfed his body. Alan had been in the crash his namesake had witnessed just months ago. “Things happened on training stations. That could have been me,” he said. The incident conjures up other memories for Stevenson. During one landing, Stevenson could not get his wheels down. They jammed partway, enough for a safe landing. Looking under the plane later, Stevenson saw that bombs hanging under the aircraft had caused the jam. He would have cleared them over a lake, but he didn’t know they were there.
Teachers’ union on the march Goal was to get voters engaged, says ADTA
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found it did not get at “the meat” of the issues in the district. Locally, teachers are concerned that there are more Members of the Abbotsford District Teachers’ than 180 classrooms in Abbotsford that contain four or Association marched in demonstration on Wednesday, more special needs students. Each of them has an IEP, but not out of any particular issue with the Abbotsford or individualized education program. There are Board of Education. teachers’ aides to assist in these classrooms, but ADTA president Jeff Dunton said the purpose the union feels more are needed. of the march was to remind the public about the “The aides are spread rather thin,” said Nov. 19 municipal election, that it includes school Dunton. board trustees, and to get voters out. Another issue is teacher-librarians. In 2001, “We were highlighting that education is an imthere were more than 27 of these specialist teachportant issue, and that kids matter,” he said. ers in the district, and now there are seven. There was a board of education all-candidates Dunton said classroom teachers are expected to meeting Wednesday night, and teachers hoped pick up the slack, but they may not have the retheir public demonstration might encourage DUNTON search expertise or library science background of more people to attend. teacher-librarians. About 18 teachers took part, and marched from “The loss of a teacher-librarian is a huge hit to any the ADTA office on Cyril Street to Five Corners. Dunton said the ADTA is not supporting any particular school,” said Dunton. They specialize in showing kids how to use the library, candidates in the municipal election. materials that will interest them most, and giving kids a He said bargaining is the number one issue for teachers at present, but that is “all stalled at the provincial love of reading. “So students see books as something to enjoy and relax table.” Dunton attended the local all-candidates session, but with, rather than avoid books at all costs.” Abbotsford News
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