Play about oak trees helps elementary students learn about the Battle of Vimy Ridge

An elementary school in Toronto found a creative way to commemorate the First World Warwith a play about the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a Canadian soldier and his acorns.

"He was walking around a destructive area and he finds a branch of acorns and then he planted that and that became a whole gigantic tree," said 10-year-old Shogo Ogawa, one of the actors in a play about Canadian soldier Leslie Miller.

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Miller fought in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, whenCanadian soldiers defeated German forces in France almost a century ago.

While he was at Vimy Ridge, Miller found acorns that were later planted on his family's farm, Vimy Oaks, in Scarborough.

A play about oak trees helps elementary students remember the Battle of Vimy Ridge

8 years ago

Duration 0:44

North Preparatory Junior Public School in Scarborough found a creative way to commemorate World War I with a play about the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a Canadian soldier and his acorns.

When teacher Maja Buium heard about Miller's story and what's now being done with the trees, she wanted to share it.

"There's this cycle that's taking acorns from Vimy Ridge, growing them in Canada and then returning them to Vimy Ridge," said Buium.

All of the oak trees at Vimy Ridge were destroyed, so the Vimy Oak Legacy aims to replant them by using the descendents of the 10 trees in Scarborough.

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"We're working closing with the Canadian government to see how best to get the trees back to their homeland," said Patricia Sinclair ofthe Vimy Oak Legacy. "You're telling the story of war through trees. It's not about a blood-and-guts battle, it's through nature."

Buium agrees. She sayschildren need to learn about Canadian history in a way that's accessible to them.

She wrote a book about Miller's story and then converted that into a play that students at North Preparatory Junior Public School performed on Remembrance Day.

"I liked that we got to be a part of a special event, an historical event of World War I," said 11-year-old Alon Rotem. "It's very interesting, he [Leslie Miller]was brave to do this."

Buium saidthe children connected with the story because it taught them to stop and pay attention to the beauty around them.

"Traditionally children like to celebrate at the end of doing anything at a school by having a pizza lunch," said Buium. "But my children said, 'Could we do a field trip to the Vimy oaktrees and have a picnic there?'"

Although Miller's farm no longer exists, the original trees are still standing on property currently owned by the Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church.

The Vimy Oaks Legacy hopes to have the saplings planted in France in April, during the centennial celebrations of the Canadian victory.

The organization is also allowing those with a war memorial anywhere in Canada to purchase an oak tree and have it planted on their site.