Regina students pay tribute to the fallen in Regina Cemetery

Students from four Regina schools paid their respects at the Regina Cemetery Field of Honour on Monday.

The students — from Dr. L.M. Hanna School, Imperial Community School, St. Theresa School and St. Francis Community School — took part in the No Stone Left Alone program.

Each year, students pay tribute to the fallen by taking part in a ceremony of remembrance and placing poppies on the headstones of those who served in the Canadian military during conflicts around the world.

“It’s a teaching moment,” said Callista Szachury, a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy and a teacher in the Regina Catholic School Division.

“Oftentimes at the Brandt Centre, we pay our respects to the veterans on the veterans’ parade (on Remembrance Day), but the cemeteries sometimes get forgotten. The initiative of this memorial foundation is to make sure that no stone is left alone on Remembrance Day.”

Representatives of HMCS Queen, 15 Wing Moose Jaw and the Regina Legion were on hand for the ceremony and laid wreaths at the cenotaph in the cemetery. The students then brushed snow off the headstones and adorned them with poppies.

“It’s a way to show respect, to me, (and) to show remembrance and respect for those who have fallen in the line of duty,” said Tobias Horse, a 13-year-old student at Imperial Community School.

“They put the poppies on the grave just for that moment of respect, to have that connection to the past and appreciate the sacrifice that that man or woman made giving their life so that we can have a better life today,” Szachury added.

Kids from public and Catholic schools in Regina attended a ceremony for No Stone Left Alone at the Regina Cemetery Field of Honour on Nov. 4, 2019, to lay down poppies ahead of Remembrance Day. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

The students have been learning about the world wars and other conflicts in which Canadians have fought in preparation for Remembrance Day next Monday.

Imperial student Tegan Nahnepowisk, 13, said the lessons have covered the wheres, whens and hows. The event Monday — and those on Remembrance Day — will add to the things the students learn in classrooms.

“It means being respectful,” Nahnepowisk said, “(and) honouring a day for the soldiers that have fallen and the members that are (currently) in the army, navy and air force.”

Szachury said the No Stone Left Alone program gives students more of an understanding of Remembrance Day and the sacrifices made by those who fought and died for Canada.

“In the poem ‘In Flanders Fields,’ there’s a section that says, ‘Take up our quarrel with the foe, to you from failing hands we throw the torch,’ ” she said, referring to the poem by John McCrae. “I really take that as we need to pass the Remembrance Day torch on to this younger generation to make sure that the veterans and what sacrifices were made are never forgotten.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick