Travel Clubs: Canadian Battlefields 2009
Following the success of the trips to Vimy Ridge in 2007 and the Canadian battlefields of WWI and WWII in Europe in 2009, a third such trip is currently being planned. In May, 2010, up to 40 students from St. Pat's will go to Holland, where they will join thousands of other students from across Canada in the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Liberation of Holland and the end of WWII.
Highlights of the trip include visits to:
- Vimy Ridge
- Beaumont-Hamel
- Passchendaele
- Arnhem
- Airborne Forces Museum in Oosterbeek
- Hoge Veluwe
- The Jewish Holocaust Museum
- Anne Frank's House
Students will also be involved in special ceremonies and events, including:
- A school-conducted Remembrance service at Vimy Ridge
- Locating the final resting place of their assigned soldiers in Cemetery No.2, Neuville-St. Vaast
- Attending the Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate
- Taking part in a Remembrance service in Dam Square
- Partcipating in a Holocaust Remembrance service in a synagogue
- Going to a Military Tattoo in Voorthuizen
- Watching the Liberation Parade in Wageningen
Students interested in this opportunity are currently taking Canadian War History, an after-school class in which they learn about the role of Canadians, at home and abroad, during both World Wars and the subsequent international conflicts and peacekeeping missions our nation has been a part of. These students put in many hours after school and on weekends, in the course and fundraising, to make this trip possible, and they appreciate the experience all the more because they really understand why they are going. We, as a school, commend their hard work and dedication in preparing themselves for this life-changing experience.
For more information on this venture, please contact Loralea Wark.
