Je Me Souviens:

An education program

When discussing the first two world wars in Quebec words like “conscription” and “deserters” typically spring to mind. Conscription had a deep & lasting effect on the province, and the reaction of Quebecers at the time has tainted the image of the francophone contribution to the overall Canadian war effort. Despite this negative perception, the reality is that 76,000 francophones fought or served in the First World War, and nearly all were volunteers. This is double the number traditionally expressed in Quebec history. The idea that Quebecers avoided enrolling is false.

Je Me Souviens (JMS) is a Canada Company education program created in collaboration with the Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR) Foundation and le Royal 22ieme Regiment (R22eR). JMS provides free teaching materials to supplement the new Quebec history curriculum and to help students gain a greater knowledge of Quebec’s role in military conflicts throughout the last 100+ years, and ultimately to help them understand the long-term impacts of war upon all facets of our peaceful society.

The materials are created by high school teachers and are based on the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur’s curriculum and the historical collections from the museums of two storied Quebec infantry regiments: The Royal Montreal Regiment and the Royal 22e Régiment.

Turnkey materials include teacher & student guides, accompanying presentations, videos, links to supplementary resources, etc., and provide opportunities for developing cross-curricular competencies. With the help of primary sources, students research, analyze, create and present their findings to their peers in the form of timelines, posters, soldier profiles, letters, poems, videos and personal reflections in both print and digital formats.  There is no requirement to use all of the materials provided – teachers can pick & choose what suits them best. All materials are provided online for free and are available in both French and English.