School Remembrance Projects

Unionville High School - "When We Were Young - Documenting WW2"

In October of 2004, students of the Documenting History course at Unionville High School, Unionville, Ontario completed a documentary which includes interviews of Second World War veterans from the infantry, navy, air force and CWAC's (Canadian Women's Army Corp). The students were responsible for everything from research, camera work, writing, editing and music. The documentary was so well received by the public that it aired twice on TVOntario, a Government owned educational television network.

The students were asked to write reflections before and after the project to express their feelings about Remembrance Day and the veterans. Prior to the project, students had difficulties identifying with the veterans. One student wrote this passage which summarizes the significant change in their feelings after the project:

"All I had ever seen in the past were videos and/or pictures in text books. But when you are sitting talking to a veteran and looking into their eyes and everything is so real to them, it's an understanding and appreciation on a whole different level. These men and women were our age. They weren't as old as they are now. They were young men and women, most of them still in high school. They had lives that they left behind. To us it doesn't seem as real because you see thousands of soldiers on television and their faces just become a blur. The truth is however, that was real for each one of them living it, and it was real for their mothers and it was real for the spouses and children, it was real for their best friends. Afterwards I realized why it was so important to be doing these documentaries. If only for a brief second the other kids could experience what I had by listening to these stories, their appreciation for these veterans would be heightened so much more! It would be just a little bit more real to them too."

Georgette Andreopoulos
Unionville High School student

Students were so devoted to this project that for three weeks during the editing phase, they stayed at school late into the evenings. Work sometimes was done during the night by holding sleep-overs and working in shifts on loaned out laptops.

This went far beyond just a school project because it was much more authentic and meaningful. It was the students' commitment to the veterans to tell their stories so that they could preserve those experiences for future generations.

Credits

Photo Gallery

View the When We Were Young - Documenting WW2 documentary: