The Juno Beach Centre Association hosted its ninthannualProfessional Development Program for Educators with a passion for Canadian military historyfrom July 28 to Aug. 6. A group of 28 Canadian educators, includingfour teachers from Saskatchewan,travelled to Europe for professional development training on the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars.
Medstead Central School principal Kelly Schneider said it was a powerful experience, one that cannot be had from a history book.
The 10-day tour included stops at Vimy Ridge, Beaumont-Hamel, Dieppe, as well as historical sites in Normandy including the Juno Beach Centre, Omaha Beach and Arromanches, as well as a remembrance service at the Bretteville Canadian War Cemetery where 2,500 Canadians are buried.
Educators gained a firsthand knowledge of Canada's military history, an experience they will pass onto their students in the classroom.
Schneider says he now feels he can speak about Canada's battles in France with authenticity, sharing that history with his students.
"Our kids are very respectful," he says.
Medstead Central is a K-12 school, and the students dutifully turn out for Remembrance Day, says Schneider, but they can't really imagine what wartime was like. He hopes he can help make it more real for them so it will always be remembered, not to be repeated.
He plans to see that a Cenotaph is built in Medstead as well. Remaining veterans may be dwindling, and there is no longer a branch of the Legion in Medstead, but Schneider plans to make sure there will continue to be remembrance.
The experiences Schneider had in France were emotional. When you stand in front of cemeteries of 22,000 or 44,000 soldiers about the age of the kids you teach, it is overwhelming, he said.
Wading into the water where Canadian soldiers landed on the beach and were killed is a surreal experience, quite different from reading about it in a book, he said.
They also saw a place where Germans took Canadians captive then lined them up and shot them.
"We didn't do that," he said; Canada followed the international laws of warfare.
They travelled through areas that were liberated by Canadian soldiers that still fly Canadian flags gratefully today.
The French really still live with war, said Schneider. Reminders of it are all around them, in monuments, vast soldier cemeteries and wartime buildings. Canadians can't imagine what that's like, he said.
Canadians might say the French were quick to lay down their guns in the Second World War, but, he explained, when the Germans invaded, the French, still unrecovered from the hammering of a "horrible" First World War, had been building their defences in the wrong area, and they were ill prepared to defend themselves.
While they had to give themselves up to the invaders, suffering insult and occupation, they developed a strong underground resistance movement, he said, but life was awful for the people living in the areas his group visited.
What he learned about the history of places like Vimy Ridge, Dieppe and Omaha Beach was so much more than his previous limited understanding, he said, and he hopes he can pass that on to his students.
It was very helpful that there were three historians in his group.
They also attended what he described as a very beautiful remembrance service at a Canadian cemetery. Their hosts even sang O Canada, he said.
"Talk about a lump in your throat."
The experience was just so powerful, Schneider said, that if he can pass any of it on to his students, it will make a difference.
The 28 tour participants representing almost every province and territory in Canada were selected based on motivation letters describing the anticipated personal and professional benefits of this experience with particular emphasis on how their teaching of Canadian History will be enhanced in their classroom and school. Schneider had heard about the program from a fellow teacher, and when he saw an advertisement, he applied.
"In my heart I had to go," he said.
Although he doesn't come from a military background or family, he has a passion for history. And he has been affected by the loss of a former student, combat engineer Cpl. Dustin Wasden of Spiritwood. Wasden was killed at the age of 25 in Afghanistan in 2008. Twelve hundred people turned out for the funeral, said Schneider.
The Juno Beach Centre Association was established in 2003 by veterans with a vision to create a permanent memorial to all Canadians who served Canada during the Second World War and preserve this legacy for future generations through education. The Centre in Normandy pays homage to the nearly 45,000 Canadians whodied during the Second World War, of which 5,500 lost their lives during the Battle of Normandy and 359 on D-Day. At the same time, it showcases today's Canada and allows visitors from all over the world to learn more about Canadian values and culture. A decade later, the centre has welcomed over half a million visitors and has been designated a site of national historic significance to Canada by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Its founder, Garth Webb, was a young Canadian lieutenant with the 14th Field Regiment (Royal Canadian Artillery) when he landed on Juno Beach on the morning of D-Day, June 6, 1944.
To learn more please visit www.junobeach.org.
