Recognition cards - Teacher's Guide

Learning outcomes

• To help youth understand the significance of the sacrifices and achievements of Canada's Veterans.
• To link youth and Veterans in a personal way.

Recognition cards

It’s always the right time to say thank you! Recognition cards are messages of appreciation students write and give to Veterans. Connecting students with a Veteran in your community makes the activity more meaningful.

What do I do with Recognition cards?

• Give them to a speaker visiting your class or taking part in a commemorative activity at your school.
• Ask students to hand-deliver them at your community’s remembrance ceremony.
• Recognize a Veteran in your local community, such as a parent who served in the military.
• Contact a local Veterans’ organization or long-term care facility and ask if there are Veterans who would like to receive the cards.
• Create a display at your school. Be creative! Share images on social media tagged with #CanadaRemembers.

Instructions

1. Explain that a Veteran is someone who served in Canada’s armed forces and can be any age.
2. Discuss the activities Veterans have been involved in over the years. This includes service on land, at sea and in the air. It also includes combat and non-combat roles. There are dozens of jobs and trades in the military and all are important. Veterans may have deployed in countries around the world during war, peacekeeping or humanitarian aid missions. They may also have served right here in Canada. No matter what they did in uniform, all Veterans deserve recognition for their service.
3. Encourage youth to write a message of appreciation. They could also write about how they will remember the sacrifices and achievements of Canada’s Veterans.
4. Collect and read the cards to ensure the messages are appropriate before giving them to a Veteran.

Other Recognition cards activities

There are many creative ways to say thank you with Recognition cards. Use your imagination or try one of these alternative activities:

Arrange distribution to a local Veteran or invite a Veteran to your classroom to receive your cards by contacting a Veterans organization active in your community. Many organizations also have speakers programs.

Distribute the cards to Veterans during a remembrance ceremony.

Create a "Peace Tree" in your school and decorate it with messages of thanks written on cards and other artistic symbols of remembrance, like poppies. Tie these decorations to an artificial or real tree.

Use cards in a display at your school. Place the cards on a billboard, make a mobile or glue the cards on a popsicle stick to plant a “peace garden” in your school.

Contact a local long-term care facility and ask if there are Veterans who would like to receive the cards in person and make a video!

Be creative and share images on social media with #CanadaRemembers!

Important

• Please do not send completed cards to Veterans Affairs Canada. We encourage you to distribute the cards to Veterans in your community.
• To respect students’ privacy, do not include any personal contact information, such as addresses and phone numbers.
• If you mail your completed cards, please keep in mind that postage is at the sender’s expense.
• Please complete our evaluation form to help us improve this activity.

Thank you for honouring Veterans.