BradfordToday has teamed up with local high school, Holy Trinity Catholic School and their Media Class to cover events and issues surrounding the school community.
Last Friday, students of Holy Trinity Catholic High School met with 17 veterans, their family members, and legion members over eggs and bacon in a love-inspired theme Veteran Legion Family Breakfast in the school cafeteria.
Holy Trinity’s grade 11 History class co-ordinated the event, originally started by student Megan Brown.
Brown had approached the school principal, Mr. Bebie with the idea which was then passed onto Mr. Strycharz, a teacher at Holy Trinity, who organized the breakfast with his history class.
Some of the students had been planning this event for months, which Strycharz believes shows the quality of the students at Holy Trinity.
“I was happy for not only what the kids could see in the veterans but what the veterans could see in our students” shared Strycharz.
The students decided to host the breakfast near Valentine's Day and Family Day in hopes of creating a warm, welcoming setting. Strycharz explains how Remembrance Day is a very structured and somber day, with this event intended to connect with families, build a loving community, and share many smiles.
Additionally, the staff sees this event as an opportunity to broaden the students’ perspective.
“We had people today in a legion jacket, in one of their old retired uniforms with some medals," noted Strycharz.
"And to see somebody (a veteran) that you might see at Sobey's in line dressed like this, it kind of puts you into a different frame of mind, that everybody around us has their story and sometimes we don’t recognize the veterans or the families of veterans that are around us."
Also in attendance at the breakfast was York-Simcoe MP Scot Davidson. Davidson attends as many events like this as possible. He believes it’s a good way to be active in the community.
“It’s important everyone realizes what our veterans have sacrificed for Canada, what they’ve done. It’s the reason I'm here today and more than likely why we’re all here,” he said.
Davidson expressed how strongly he feels about remembering our veterans, that they should be honoured and appreciated all year, not just on Remembrance Day. He said that this event is extremely important, taking care of all the veterans.
For next year, the staff of Holy Trinity is trying to find new ways to help the event run smoother as well as expand the breakfast to more than one class.
