Museum Program

Individuals who understand and do their best to practice these core values are successful and community-oriented Canadian citizens.

Calgary schools only.
March 19, 20, 21 & 25, 26, 27; April 3, 4 & 9, 10, 11, 12.
– Signup closes at day’s end Feb. 12, 2024 –

Cost per class/school is only 50% of the busing cost. All other charges are covered by Valour Canada. Please note that students must bring a packed lunch.

A guest presentation in your classroom? Please contact us.
Last semester, we visited 8 schools.

Our museum education program, currently running in four provinces, takes a unique approach to learning about Canadian military history by embedding the educational content within an experiential, innovative, and team-based learning framework. In Calgary, this day-long, museum-based program consists of 4 – 6 modules through which students will progress sequentially, as well as an artifact handling session with a real soldier. The Character of our Canadian Military History program (CCMH) is ideal for groups of 20 – 45 (school classes, cadet groups, scouts/girl guides, etc., as high as 80 under special circumstances) and can be adapted to your needs.

To enquire about experiencing this program or to request additional information, please contact our Lead Educator.

Program Modules:

“Every single minute of my trip in this museum was very informative.” (F.R., student, 2022)

A student wears the weight of a modern soldier’s kit during the artifact handling session.

                Audience history of the program:
                           Autumn 2023: 2,461 students (Alberta and Ontario)
                           Spring 2023:     1,118 students (Alberta and Ontario)
                           Autumn 2022: 809 students (Alberta and Ontario)
                           Spring 2022:     220 students (Alberta and Ontario)
                           Autumn 2021: 95 students (Alberta; reduced group sizes due to Covid)
                           Spring 2021:     Cancelled (Covid)
                           Autumn 2020: Cancelled (Covid)
                           Spring 2020:    151 students in Manitoba, then cancelled (Covid)
                           Autumn 2019: 704 students (Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia)
                           Spring 2019:     383 students (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario)
                           Autumn 2018: 347 students (Alberta, Ontario)
                           Spring 2018:     501 students (Alberta)
                           Autumn 2017: 300 students (Alberta)
                           Spring 2017:     262 students (Alberta)

Are you a representative of a Canadian Military Museum?
Assuming a return to pre-Covid normalcy in 2021 Valour Canada will continue to launch the CCMH program in new-partnering military museums across Canada. If you’d like more information about this free opportunity, please contact our Lead Educator.

“I loved how straightforward, how the education was easily digestible. Not sugar-coating things. I also liked the activities.” (T.Y., student, 2022)

Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell addresses an attending Grade 5 class on National Aboriginal Veterans Day in 2018.

“The program is powerful enrichment of and perspective into my high school social studies course. The students were engaged, challenged, and provoked into thinking about issues in a new and interesting way.” (G.P., CCSD Teacher, 2022)

ONLINE EDUCATION: Canadian Military History Library

Introduced in September 2017, Valour Canada.ca now hosts a variety of articles that tell the history of our country’s military experience. Valour Canada’s Canadian Military History Library will consist of predominantly Militrivia writings, short blurbs that bring bits of Canadian military history to life. Articles will be sort-able into 10 categories: pre-1914, WWI, Victoria Cross, WWII, Korean War, Cold War, Peacekeeping, Afghanistan, Domestic, and Other.

Once the library is fully stocked, over 200 articles will be available, including those that discuss well known topics such as: Passchendaele, Remembrance Day, the Korean War, and D-Day, as well as the lesser known stories of Richard Pierpoint, Cynthia Oakley, Operation Husky, Masumi Mitsui, and the Oka Crisis. There will also be a sprinkling of other unique pieces that tell the reader about Canadian history links to: Star Wars Weapons, the Call of Duty video game, Dunkirk, and the Enigma Machine.

Shown to the right is a photo of Karen Hermiston from the article “Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit”.

To see the Library, please click HERE or on the”Military History Library” in the title bar at the top of this page.

2017-18:

LAUNCH: The Character of Canadian Military History Program

COOPERATION | COURAGE | COMMUNICATION
THOUGHTFULNESS | RESPONSIBILITY | RESILIENCE

Individuals who understand and do their best to practice these core values are successful and community-oriented Canadian citizens.

Our newest education program takes a unique approach to learning about Canadian military history by embedding the history content within an experiential, innovative, and team-based learning framework that presents students with memorable opportunities to explore and further develop the character traits noted above. Debriefing and individual reflection are both cornerstones of the design. In Calgary, this day-long, museum-based program consists of 4 – 6 modules through which students will progress sequentially, as well as an artifact handling session with a real soldier.

Available Modules: The Sinking of HMCS Llandovery Castle, Scavenger Hunt (at museum), Artifact Handling, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canadian Corps at Hill 70: A Learning Organization, the Iron Harvest.

“I have participated in Valour Canada programming with hundreds of my students since the 2013-2014 school year. During that time the Valour Canada High School program has evolved several times but has remained focused both on helping students understand Canada’s military heritage, and the contemporary work of the Canadian Forces. The quality of the programming offered by Valour Canada has been consistently excellent. And thanks to Valour’s engagement with teachers and other education professionals, the programming has also been extraordinarily helpful for meeting program of studies objectives for Social Studies, particularly Social Studies 20.” (J.S., CBE Teacher, Nov. 2017)

Are you a passionate Social Studies or Military History educator in the Calgary area interested in exploring these traits with your students while learning about our shared Canadian Military History? If so, we have two programming options available for your students: a field trip to The Military Museums or a 45-90 minute presentation at your school in your classroom over 1 or 2 periods.

If you have any questions, concerns, or would like additional information, please contact our Lead Educator.

ONLINE EDUCATION: Road to Vimy Ridge

The Road to Vimy Ridge, our most recent web creation, is in commemoration of our country’s experience at Vimy Ridge in April of 1917.

The project is designed to take high school students, cadets, scouts, or any interested members of the public on an exploration of Canada’s World War I military history that includes:

The causes and aftermath of the First World War, one of the most lethal wars in history.
Canadian engagements during the First World War, with a focus on the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Interesting personalities and technological advancements that played key roles in Canada’s First World War experience.
How Canadian participation in the First World War has crafted and shaped ideas of nationhood that we, as Canadians, experience today.

COME AND JOIN US: VimyRidge.ValourCanada.ca

2016-17:

High School Program: THE OTTAWA TREATY

The Ottawa Treaty

Are you a passionate Social Studies or Military History educator in the Calgary area interested in digging deeply into the topics of the Crisis in Syria, Refugees, Internationalism, and Democratic Citizenship, with your students? Do you enjoy facilitating group discussion about one of the most pressing challenges that our world faces today? Would you relish bringing your students together for a mini, model UN-like exercise? The end goal is a student-led creation of a Treaty Document (The Ottawa Treaty) that will outline conditions necessary to end the current Syria Crisis, so that aid and reconstruction can begin.

Activity Description:

The preparation package linked below contains background on the current situation in Syria (as of the winter of 2016-17) along with information modules that communicate information to students and provide them with further avenues for research into each of the 8 main interests regarding the outcome in Syria. The 8 include: Assad’s Syria, the Syrian Rebels/FSA, Iraq, Turkey, Kurds, Russia, U.S., and E.U. Valour Canada believes that by giving students an opportunity to learn about the underlying issues in Syria along with information pertaining to specific geopolitical interests, they will be better able to negotiate with each other and to work towards a group solution to the Syria Crisis. It is recommended that teacher’s spend at least 2-3 hours in class preparing students for their Ottawa Treaty activities before initiating the culminating activity.

Peace in the Middle East Region (the future of Syria, Iraq, the Middle East broadly, Shia-Sunni tensions)
Global Security (threat posed by IS, retaliation/retribution, conditions required for aid and reconstruction, competing/aligning interests, media reliability, etc.)
Humanitarianism (crimes against non-combatants, the stateless Kurdish people, the fate of refugees, etc.)
Economic considerations (economic and human costs incurred by various countries, including Canada)

To download the Ottawa Treaty Program/Lesson Plan (pdf), please click here.

2015-16:

High School Program: ISIS/ISIL

Are you a passionate Social Studies or Military History educator in the Calgary area interested in digging deeply into the topics of internationalism, nationalism, and democratic citizenship, with your students? Do you enjoy engaging in discussions about the Canadian military role in the world? Would you relish the idea of bringing your students together with others from around the city for intellectual interaction and interesting activities? If so, please consider joining us for teacher professional development, classroom resources, and/or a field trip.

This year’s question: What should the Canadian military action be against Islamic State (IS)? Students decided upon appropriate intervention based on ONE of the following foreign policy goals (as criteria):

Peace in the Middle East region (the future of Syria, Iraq, the Middle East broadly, Shia-Sunni tensions)
Canadian Security (threat posed by IS, retaliation/retribution, “home-grown” terrorism, “radicalized” Canadians, etc.)
Humanitarianism (crimes against the Yasidi people, the Kurdish people, the fate of refugees, etc.)
Economic considerations (economic and human costs, incurred by Canada and other countries/organizations)

Calgary schools only. March 19, 20, 21 & 25, 26, 27; April 3, 4 & 9, 10, 11, 12. – Signup closes at day’s end Feb. 12, 2024 –

A guest presentation in your classroom? Please contact us. Last semester, we visited 8 schools.