Crocus Plains team reflects on ‘historic’ Europe tour

Nine students from Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School are back home after a powerful, all-expenses-paid 10-day journey across Europe.

The trip — which was a first-of-its-kind provincial initiative — aimed to help Manitoba youth connect deeply with the realities of war, sacrifice, and remembrance.

The Crocus Plains delegation included Jay Elias, Xandria Roulette, Mary Akinbode, Cole Hingey, Kaleb Voodre, Elen Abraham, Helly Patel, Alexander Joubert and Mercury Campbell-Spence. They were accompanied by chaperones Shayne Macgranachan and Kat Hunkin.

For Grade 11 student Cole Hingey, the news felt unreal at first.

“I didn’t get an email, so I thought it was a very cruel joke,” he recalled. “It didn’t feel real until we were boarding the plane in Toronto.”

Once on the ground, Hingey visited Amsterdam, Antwerp, Vimy Ridge, Juno Beach, Paris, Lille, Normandy and more.

“I learned I knew nothing about Juno Beach before,” he said. “Canadians took so long to move because every step was dangerous. It gave me a lot more respect for what they went through. I was actually shocked … Europe was in my plans someday.”

Grade 11 student Mary Akinbode was equally stunned.

“My parents thought the email might be a scam,” she said. “I had to confirm at school the next day.”

Seeing the Anne Frank House, German bunkers and military cemeteries left a deep emotional impact.

“It felt really deep down in the heart,” she said. “They sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Being there was my way of showing respect. I was lucky to be one of the nine”

Grade 11 student Xandria Roulette learned she was chosen right after finishing her last exam of the year.

“We joke a lot, so I thought my mom was messing around,” she said. “Then I got my passport and thought — okay, this is real.”

Roulette was struck by the living conditions soldiers endured. “Trenches, dugouts, limited food … it made me grateful for what we have now,” she said. “The Anne Frank House was fascinating.”

Grade 12 student Jay Elias said Europe surprised him in ways he didn’t expect.

“The museums gave a really deep look into how crazy things got,” he said. “And the Anne Frank House — seeing how people hid intentionally — you don’t see that today.”

The trip reinforced his passion for construction.

“I admired the structures of the museums and trenches. It made me respect the work that went into them.”

Hunkin and Macgranachan said the experience was less about supervising and more about witnessing the students’ growth.

Hunkin said she was moved by their evolving understanding of how to respectfully engage with cemeteries, museums and battlefields.

“The legacy of war is still so present there,” she said. “Before you build in Canada, you check for hydro lines. There, you check for the possibility of bodies buried 100 years ago.”

Macgranachan said seeing students grow comfortable in a new environment was heartwarming.

“By the end, they felt part of the place,” he said. “Sometimes I didn’t even feel like a chaperone — more like a tourist with them.”

He said Vimy Ridge left a lasting impression.

“The land itself is still shaped by war. It doesn’t forget, even 100 years later. And we shouldn’t either.”

The group left on the eve of Indigenous Veterans Day and reached the midpoint of their tour on Remembrance Day — timing, teachers said, added deeper meaning to the experience.

Their itinerary included Amsterdam, Paris, Vimy Ridge, the Normandy region, the Essen Farm Cemetery, the Flanders Fields Museum, and the nightly Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.

As the students return to their routines in Brandon, many say the trip opened their eyes to history in ways books never could.

For Hingey, the message is simple. “I’m really grateful I got chosen,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I’ll remember it forever.”

They joined students from Winnipeg and Frontier School Division on the inaugural trip, part of a provincial program introduced by the the Manitoba government earlier this year. Inspired by Premier Wab Kinew’s experience at the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024, the initiative funds travel for Manitoba youth to historic sites tied to the First and Second World Wars.

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