Walker students remembering Canada’s troops

FORT FRANCES—While Canada’s role in Afghanistan has been the subject of debate lately, students at J.W. Walker School here are learning about the war there—and the men and women serving in that country.
“What we’re trying to do is get the kids connected to what’s going on in the world,” said literacy teacher Mary Lynne Bondett.
Last month, staff at the school began wearing red on Fridays to remember Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
It began with Bondett, whose nephew currently is serving there, and classroom assistant Darleen Derkson, whose son recently returned from the war-torn country.
“We’re remembering the men and women who decided to go over,” Bondett noted.
The “Wear Red Fridays” campaign began last spring when family members of soldiers from CFB Petawawa began to wear red to show support for Canadian forces.
When Afghan president Hamid Karzai paid a visit to Canada last month, thousands of people attended a rally on Parliament Hill wearing red to mark the occasion.
“He was really grateful to Canadians because we really stepped up to the plate,” Bondett said.
Now, staff at Walker are beginning to talk about the Afghan mission in their classrooms—and talking to the students about what Canadian forces are doing there.
“We’re trying to talk to kids in a non-threatening way,” explained Sharon Tibbs, library assistant at the school, who has begun wearing a red scarf on Fridays.
“The privileges we have, that comes from them [soldiers] protecting us,” she stressed. “It’s not about the war, it’s about the people. Whether they’re in peacekeeping or on the front lines, they need our support.”
“I don’t think we’ve done a good job of publicizing to the public what we’re doing over there,” noted Bondett.
Bondett’s nephew, 20-year-old Cpl. Andrew Mcleod of Timmins, left for Afghanistan on Aug. 18 and will return home in February after a month of debriefing.
Bondett has been using photos of her nephew to explain to children that soldiers are just regular people who decided to serve their country.
She also has put together a portable display with maps of Afghanistan and the region to give students an idea of the location and topography of the country.
As the lesson expands, Bondett said they hope to encourage students to write letters to her nephew and other soldiers to show them support.
“It’s fitting into the curriculum,” she said, noting students will learn proper format for letters and practise their writing skills.
The goal is to get every student in the school to write a letter—and have them sent by Christmas.
“Right now we’re looking for a place to send them so that they can be distributed to lots of soldiers,” Bondett explained.
“My nephew doesn’t need 300 letters,” she laughed.
While the war in Afghanistan may seem a daunting subject for young children, Tibbs said they already know a good deal about it.
“It’s amazing how they’ve picked up key words,” she said, adding children as young as six and seven have heard of the Taliban, although they don’t fully understand what it is.
Visiting a Grade 1 class last Friday, Tibbs said one of the students asked her why she was wearing a red scarf.
She turned the question to the rest of the class and Kai Bodnar replied it was to remember the troops in Afghanistan.
“They really are extremely aware of what’s going on,” Tibbs said. “We’re trying to make them more comfortable with it.
“We’re talking to them in a non-threatening way, not to put them in fear, but to know people are protecting us,” she added.
Bondett said she hoped to get Derkson’s son, Jonathan, to come in and speak to some of the students. And, of course, to spread the word about “Wear Red Fridays.”
“The hope is all will wear red on Fridays,” Bondett said.
Forty Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed since the Canadian military deployed to Afghanistan in 2002.
(Fort Frances Times)