Three Communities Bound Together by the Paper Clip
CDS Junior School students took part in an extraordinary Remembrance Day Assembly on November 11th. In doing so, they joined a community from the past and present in celebration of a humble symbol, the paper clip.
Originating in Norway in 1940, Norwegians wore paper clips as a sign of resistance to World War II. Six million Jewish lives were lost during the war, and as paper clips hold things together, they too wanted to hold their country together in such a time of sadness. Wearing a paper clip was a clever way of displaying their rejection to the violence of war, and this humble symbol offered support while the war happened all around them.
In 1998, an idea was born by Grade 8 students from Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee, who were overwhelmed and unable to grasp the number '6 million'. Students and teachers together devised a way to visualize the number.
Hearing of the Norwegian paper clip story, the school set a goal of collecting 6 million paper clips to represent each life lost in the Holocaust. Students brought in paper clips. They asked their community for paper clips. They wrote letters to famous people asking for paper clips. And they were not disappointed.
The Paper Clip Project has gained world-wide attention, and to date, more than 30 million paper clips have been sent to Whitwell Middle School. In 2001, the school dedicated a Children’s Holocaust Memorial, which includes an authentic German railcar filled with a portion of their paper clip collection.
In preparation for Remembrance Day, each Junior School student and faculty member was asked to write a promise of peace, a pledge that states: “I’m a child who wants peace in the world, I promise to … ”
As the students were piped into the theatre for the assembly, each child placed their handwritten card in a designated suitcase placed at the front by the podium. Nearing the conclusion, students were told their written promises would be held together by one enormous paperclip and sent to the Children’s Holocaust Memorial in Whitwell, where they would be housed with the rest of their collection.
The two Masters of Ceremony, Sophia Carogioiello and Jameson Dowling, eloquently read, “Today the students of The Country Day School wear this humble little symbol close to their poppy remembering the Norwegian people who wore it quietly to say, “No more war.” We wear our paper clip to be reminded of the students in Tennessee who collected paper clips to honour the lives lost in war.”
The powerful significance of this symbol now applied to each individual in the assembly as well. The lesson continued, “Now more than anything else, we wear our paperclips to be reminded how we can hold things together, how we can be peaceful, and how we can always show kindness to those around us.”
These three communities are now bound together by one simple symbol, just as the students of The Country Day School are held together by one wish: a wish for PEACE.
In the words of the bagpiper, Pat Reid, “Our vets would have been so proud if they were here today.”
Land Acknowledgment
The Country Day School wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. Our nearest Indigenous Nations are now the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Chippewas of Georgina Island. The Dish with One Spoon Wampum covenant is often cited as an example of the shared responsibility for caring for these lands among the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples who would call these their traditional territories. CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection to this land can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for the land and waters for future generations.
School Information
Junior, Middle and Senior Schools
13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario L7B 1K5
(905) 833-1220
communications@cds.on.ca
admissions@cds.on.ca
Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.
