IHMS conducts a special Remembrance Day prayer service every year to commemorate all the Canadian soldiers who fought and died in previous and current wars. This year, staff and students gathered for the service in the school gym at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, November 9th.
After a brief welcome by Mr. Picklyk, the service began with an entrance procession of 2 students – Michael P. carrying the Canadian flag and Gabriele P. carrying the Ukrainian flag.
Everyone rose for “O Canada”, the national anthem, followed by a reading of the biblical passage Ephesians 4: 25-27, 29-32 by Sister Anne Pidskalny, SSMI.
A small group of grade 7 students – Russell C., Stephen D., Kathlyn G., Camryn H., Hunter T., and Jasmine Z. read some ???Words of Remembrance??? that they wrote in class. This was followed by a couple of poppy poems sung by the Kindergarten class.
Next, Michael M. from grade 6 read a short narrative about how war has affected his family. This was followed by the song ???Remember Flanders Fields??? sung by the grade 3 class.
This year, our school was honored to have Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Cuell of the Canadian Veteran Affairs Office as a special guest speaker. He spoke about the Canadian military, and the role they play on the world stage. He also took the time to explain some of the military medals he was wearing on his uniform.
Next Colin A. from grade 6 read some information about fighting in the trenches while Mr. Crooks projected slides of trench warfare on the gym wall.
One of the highlights of the Remembrance Day service is the traditional laying of the wreath by the school???s ???Colour Party???. This year???s Colour Party was composed of a group of grade 6-8 students who belong to a ???uniform??? wearing organization such as Sum, Plast, or the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. The Colour Party was made up of Maksym H., Andriy B., Andrij D., Marysa F., Veeta Z., Nykola S., Nathan J., Mylana S., and Julianna C.
The Colour Party marched loudly from the gym entrance, along the back wall, and down the middle of the gym to the symbolic cenotaph at the front. Maksym H. laid the wreath on the cenotaph and then stepped back and saluted while the rest of the marchers filed around on either side of the cross.
Next, a bugle call named the ???Last Post??? was played while the Colour Party assumed their positions and saluted. Everyone remained silent and solemn while they held their salute during the minute of silence.
After the ???Rouse??? (another bugle call), the grade 4 class sang the song ???Shine a Light for Peace???
Before the students filed out of the gym and back to their classes, the Remembrance Day Service ended with the prayer ???Our Father???.