The true north strong and free has a strong class of rookies coming in.

On Monday, June 20, Grade 1 students at C.P. Blakely, Our Lady of the Rosary and Ecole Steffie Woima were visited by volunteers from the Sylvan Lake Lions Club who came bearing the gift of Canadian flags and a little Canadiana knowledge.

Lions Club Foundation President Dave Leshchyshyn, who volunteered at the event, was happy to the smiling faces in the classrooms.

“It’s great to let them know about Canada and why they should be proud of their country,” he said. “We are a very generous country, a very welcoming country.”

He added that it is rewarding and surprising to see the amount of knowledge that such young students already know about their country.

“We had this one young gentleman who already knew we have a prime minister and not a president,” he said. “It’s being taught in schools and it is encouraging to see what these kids already know.”

The program, which is a “Canada-wide initiative from St. John’s to Victoria”, hands out about 40,000 flags and information certificates to students and is intended to create a sense of national pride and education.

According to Leshchyshyn, the program also helps the Lions Club achieve one of their key mandates which is to promote and empower youth.

“Our members love to be around children and see their smiling face and answer the questions they may have,” he said. “We love working with kids”

He added that he would like to thank all the schools that let them come in and appreciates that they were able to coordinate the event despite the busy school schedules that come at the end of June.

reporter@sylvanlakenews.com