Students place poppies at God’s Acre graves

Students from Rockheights Middle School attend Veterans Cemetery God’s Acre in Esquimalt to pay their respects to fallen military members. Photo by Maryanne Trofimuk

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

In what is becoming an annual tradition, students from Rockheights Middle School paid their respects to fallen military members by laying poppies at their graves.

In the chilly morning of Nov. 3, approximately 200 students in Grade 6, 7, and 8 marched the short distance to Veterans Cemetery God’s Acre for the No Stone Left Alone ceremony.

The Colville Road cemetery was originally built in 1858 as a place of rest for Royal Navy sailors, but has since expanded to encompass all members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).

Students assembled at the cemetery’s cenotaph to sing O Canada and for territorial acknowledgement to First Nations communities. They then dispersed onto the grounds to honour the dead and place poppies at their headstones.

“With the rustling trees heard overhead, our students stood in silence to honour our veterans,” said Rockheights Principal Maryanne Trofimuk.

“It’s a meaningful experience for students with an element of poignancy that cannot be replicated in a school gym or assembly.”

Rockheights was the first school in British Columbia to join the now international No Stone Left Alone campaign, which launched in Edmonton in 2011. It’s part of an effort by educators to help students understand the sacrifice of veterans on a personal level by placing poppies at their headstones each November.

Carleni, a Grade 6 student, wrote in a post-ceremony writing assignment that the experience helped her draw a strong personal connection to the headstone of Harold Stant.

“I started to imagine him and what he looked like and then I tried to imagine what his life was like,” she said.  “I felt very emotional and felt like crying, and just yelling his name out and hugging him. Then I looked around at all of the other gravestones and imagined all of the people who died were standing by their graves.”

Trofimuk noted approximately 25 percent of her student body have parents that work at CFB Esquimalt. She said the event is always one of the more important events in the school’s yearly events calendar. 

For more information about No Stone Left Alone visit their website: www.nostoneleftalone.ca