Calgary students anticipate Vimy visit
Vimy Pilgrimage Award has selected three Calgary teenagers from hundreds of applicants to participate in an interactive educational trip to France next week.
Kiana Baghban, 14, Osose Itua, 17, and Lloyd Templeton, 17, are among 20 Canadian students selected to explore the nation’s history abroad.
The Vimy Pilgrimage Award recognizes the actions of young people demonstrating outstanding efforts of volunteer work, positive contributions, notable deeds and bravery.
A student at Branton Junior High School, Baghban has been volunteering with Youth Central and the Calgary Public Library for two years. She is also an executive on her school’s student council. She says this trip will impact her more profoundly.
“I’d like to see the effects a war can have on the generations and I also want to learn about the decisions leading up to such horrible catastrophes because if we don’t learn from the past it will repeat itself,” said Baghban.
Templeton won the lieutenantgovernor’s Spirit of Vimy Ridge video contest to honour the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. A Bishop Carroll High School student, Templeton’s winning video contained original artwork which showcased his passion for visual arts.
“It will be incredibly powerful and immersive to see many of the First World War relics and hearing knowledge from people talking about it will provide a more personal connection to it,” he said.
Itua, an immigrant, mentors new young immigrants at the Calgary Public Library and runs summer day camps for second-generation refugees at Encompass. She is an executive member of the Multicultural Girls in Action Club at Western Canada High School.
“I am really interested to learn about the history of Canada, the contributions that Canadians made in Vimy Ridge, and how that was significant in the First World War,” said Itua.