Jarvis students help us remember veterans

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By Sheila Phibbs

The Haldimand Press

A chance meeting between Jarvis Community Christian School (JCCS) teacher Becky Steele and Simcoe Lions Club member and former JCCS student Dave Stelpstra has led to a unique and impactful learning opportunity for JCCS students to help the community remember. 

Norfolk Remembers the Second World War 1939 – 1945 is the second book in the Norfolk Remembers set. It was created through a collaborative effort with approximately 70 community authors, including students at JCCS. Everyone profiled in the book is either named on the Norfolk Carillion Tower in Simcoe or lived in Norfolk County at some point. Several of the soldiers featured are originally from Haldimand, including Harry Leatherdale and Berkeley “Bert” Mitchell.

Stelpstra became involved in the project with the Simcoe Lions, who helped publish the first Norfolk Remembers book that was completed in 2014 by one author, Grant Smith, and focuses on WWI. While promoting that book at the Dickens Craft Show in Simcoe, Stelpstra met Steele, who told him she had used the book in the classroom. Steele says, “He was excited to hear that we had used it in class, which then led to him asking my students to be involved as authors a couple years later.”

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Work on the WWII volume began after the Canadian government released war records ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII. This meant more information on soldiers could be accessed using the Ancestry website. As students did their research, Steele recalls, “Some soldiers had more than 35 pages of resource material.”

JARVIS—Pictured (l-r), teacher Becky Steele is joined by former students Ashley Houwer and Jasmine DeBoer to view the second Norfolk Remembers book. — Haldimand Press photos by Sheila Phibbs.

Two of the JCCS student authors, Ashley Houwer and Jasmine DeBoer, did two soldier profiles; one each in Grades 7 and 8. Now in Grade 11, they agree that the assignment was a good, practical learning experience. Reflecting on how it changed the usual approach to Remembrance Day, Houwer says, “You were never actually diving into their (the soldier’s) lives. Now we were learning about them.”

DeBoer adds, “We didn’t do anything like it before. There was lots of research.” 

The students used resources such as newspaper articles, letters, and official documents, reviewing them numerous times in their research. The work had an impact on Houwer and DeBoer, who both did their Grade 8 Heritage Fair projects on topics related to the world wars and military.

As a teacher, Steele appreciates the cross-curricular aspect of the project with history and writing components. She says, “There’s value in taking a break from the check list of skills and adding layers of learning.” 

For Stelpstra, the value to the students is the connection to Remembrance Day. He says, “You can’t remember something if you never knew it. We want the student authors to identify with ‘their soldiers’. They will always remember this.” 

Stelpstra firmly believes, “If you want people to remember, you have to start at an early age.” 

A complete set of Norfolk Remembers books has been given to JCCS to thank the school and maintain that connection to remembrance. Along with the books on the World Wars, the set also has a book on the Boer War and a collection of books called Letters Home. Stelpstra asserts, “It’s no good to print it if you’re not going to share it.” 

Steele plans to do just that as she presents a Remembrance themed chapel to introduce Veteran’s Week. She says, “I am going to use some of the soldier profiles that my students learned about to help bring some individual identity to the message. I am going to encourage other teachers to do the same. For my own students I will use various profiles to teach various historical thinking skills, as well as some reading comprehension practice.”

When asked how it feels to be published authors, DeBoer and Houwer are humble but all smiles. DeBoer says, “It’s really cool.” Houwer admits, “I was really excited when I told my mom.” 

For the Simcoe Lions committee that published the book, the significance of their work is much greater. As Stelpstra relates, “The goal of our committee is to promote remembrance through education. Our vision is to fulfill a soldier’s wish: tell them who I was and ask them to remember me.”

The Norfolk Remembers books are available through the Norfolk County Library.