Southeast students visited Estevan War monuments

A group of students from 33 Central School in Fillmore had a site-based history class in Estevan on April 1. Member of the committees for the Forever in the Clouds and Soldier’s Tree Lester Hinzman helped to organize a tour for young guests and delivered some valuable messages.

“We have to know what freedom cost. We have a great country here, fantastic country and a lot of men died to give it to us,” said Hinzman. 

Grade 10-12 students had an opportunity to visit the cenotaph, Soldier’s Tree and Forever in the Clouds monuments. Estevan Police Service Sgt. Craig Bird, for whom history is his life-long passion, helped Hinzman to tell students about the meaning of monuments and uncover some pages of both World Wars.

“We got a diverse perspective from Lester and from Craig. That balanced each other nicely because students felt the emotion and the passion from Lester, and they got the technical side, some of the explanations from Craig. It was a really good day,” said 33 Central School History teacher Teresa Farrell.

She explained that since not only students but even adults often don’t have an opportunity to travel across the Atlantic to go to the battlefields, see trenches first hand and walk on the beaches, such local site-based learning options are very important.

“For us to make the connection to the war that’s so close to home, to hear the stories, to feel the passion and to do it so close to home was meaningful,” said Farrell.

Hinzman, who is the son of a war veteran, shared his father’s story with students, which had a great impact on many of them.

“They appreciated Lester’s passion. They all talked about his stories, they all talked about connecting to him through his emotions and his incredible dedication to telling his story and telling the story of others and making sure that the next generation and generation that follows doesn’t forget,” said Farrell.

She believes that meaningful connections were made through this tour, and the students who participated won’t forget about the airmen, the reasons that the carvings were done and those pages in history.

She also pointed out that the incredible artwork, which was done with a chainsaw by Darren Jones in such a short period of time, impressed students as much as the history behind the project. A number of students also noted that they were in Estevan numerous times before but they never noticed the Soldier’s Tree monument, which was completed in 2016. 

The tour touched on several topics that were discussed on the way back to Fillmore.

“(We talked about) the emotions that spread out in the faces, the diversity on that monument… the role of women, the symbolism, the poppies, the symbolism with the poppies, the symbolism of the local connection with Lester’s poem on there. Just the diversity in that monument was important to see,” said Farrell.

Students also liked sitting on the benches and being under the plane at the Forever in the Clouds monument, which made them actually look up into the clouds and remember these airmen.

Farrell, who is personally passionate about history, has traveled to France and Germany; she visited cemeteries and did a lot of research on World Wars I and II. Her interest in learning about the war motivated her to organize this activity.

“I can’t fundraise for a trip to take my students to France to see the battlefield, it’s just not possible where I am. So I continue to find opportunities to do site-based learning that is close to home,” said Farrell.

With no funding available, they just invited a few volunteer parents to drive and came to Estevan where Hinzman helped them to organize this tour free of charge.

Farrell doesn’t have more trips planned yet, but she keeps researching Saskatchewan communities and monuments to find more opportunities to connect her students to the World Wars’ history.

“Whatever I can do to help my students remember is, I guess, my ultimate goal,” said Farrell.

Hinzman who also sincerely enjoyed the tour, hopes there will be other similar activities coming to Estevan.

“It would be nice because then they understand what these men went through… And they get to learn more about what our military does to protect this country,” said Hinzman.