As 2024 closes, we’ve just wrapped up our biggest project yet for Grade 10: “Save Juno Beach!” It was a fun journey of learning, writing, and service that taught us so much—not just about history, but also about ourselves. This project had three core components: exploring the notion of service, understanding the Second World War, and crafting our essays.

Frankly, I liked it all.

What is the notion of service?

In our first days of this project, we were asked, “What is the notion of service?”and we were tasked with taking on our own Act of Service and writing about it. As for mine, I played a role in setting up Seycove’s 2024 Remembrance Day Assembly.

To me, an act of service is putting in your time and yourself to a cause without expecting anything in return. Then, with our foundation of the concept of a notion of service, we shifted our focus to understanding the Second World War, diving into its causes and consequences.

Why did the Second World War happen?

Afterwards, we learned about The Second World War through some more engaging methods and some slideshows. Which was the most challenging part of this project for me, and I had to engage in some independent research so I could get a grasp on The Second World War and why it happened.

As we learned about The Second World War, we were introduced to Smart Brevity, a communication format focused on brevity. We learned about Smart Brevity, then applied it to our note-taking. I even read the book as we progressed through the project.

I think the intention behind us doing this was to learn more about the war, since note-taking is a great way to learn, but applying Smart Brevity to our note-taking completely transformed how I can learn and take in information.

Writing

We’ve written essays in PLP before, including in Why the World Needs More Canada, but this time was different. Before, I sort of just started writing, which was okay, but I feel like it sort of limited the quality of my previous essays in the sense that I never really knew where it was going.

This time, though, we were introduced to/required to create sorts of outlines to give our teachers an idea of what our essay would look like. I’d say my essay turned out well, and I have my outline to thank for that. The teachers told us that our thesis makes or breaks our essay, and although I don’t disagree, I would also say that our outline makes or breaks it as well.

Additionally, this was the first time I’ve ever properly used MLA, and honestly, I really enjoyed it. It was both fun to write with and interesting to learn. I was also one of the few to get my formatting right from the start. Once our essays were complete, we then transformed them into a zine (magazine-like) format.

Recently, whenever I’ve had a conversation about my learning with someone, I would bring up writing. I’d speak to how I’m not the best at it, and I want to become better at it. Though I still have a long way to go, my essay spoke to me as an example of what I can do if I really put my mind to it.

Closing

This project focused heavily on communication, which we demonstrated through our Smart Brevity notes and our final essay. Learning about the Second World War was really important to understanding how it shaped Canada into the country we recognize today. The conflict transformed Canada into a middle power, defining its identity through diplomacy, peacekeeping, and international cooperation. This shift wasn’t just about politics—it also reflected values like resilience, service, and collective action, which we explored through our acts of service and writing.

This project wasn’t just about history or essays—it was about learning to communicate effectively and discovering what we’re capable of. Through service, Smart Brevity, and writing, I’ve grown in ways I didn’t expect, and I feel more confident in my work.