HUMBOLDT — Grade 8 students at St. Dominic School in Humboldt held a small ceremony and placed hand-painted poppy stones they made at the gravesites of veterans in the Humboldt Public Cemetery.
Celeste Leray-Leicht, the class art teacher and vice-principal said they were looking for ways to honour veterans, and through conversations with a Legion member and fellow educator Robyn Moore, came up with the concept of the stones.
“Each of the kids participated and we all took turns laying our own stone down at the cairn, and each person said the words, ‘Thank you for your sacrifice, you shall never be forgotten,” Leray-Leicht said.
“We also prayed for healing and peace, that one day all peoples will lay down their arms and embrace one another.”
She said the purpose of it was to remember all those who served in the armed forces.
“We were just looking for a way to honour those who have gone to war and we were inspired to go somewhere on site where there is an official memorial,” she said.
“I think it was very meaningful for the students to be at an official veterans site and to be looking at the tombstones.”
After they finished with the ceremony, the class visited veteran Nick Sokolan’s stone. Sokolan was a familiar face to the youth, but passed away earlier this year.
“We always have our Christmas meal on the last day of school before holidays at the Legion,” Leray-Leicht said. “Nick always had joined us and it was always around his birthday, so we have always sung happy birthday to him the last two years, and so the kids actually got to meet him. So that was kind of special to be able to stop and pay our respects.”
In future years, she said the school will likely continue the theme of going to sites around Remembrance Day, but may diverge from the stone activity.
The stones will be collected for grounds keeping purposes before spring.
