A school project has turned into an unexpected gift for a group of Winnipeg students.
With help from a Juno-nominated artist, Grade 4 students at Joseph Teres School wrote an original song all about Canada.
"The message is that we live in a great country and we need to celebrate it,” said Emily Friesen, the teacher librarian behind the project.
Friesen was tasked to come up with a creative way for students to research the diverse regions of Canada. Once the idea for a song came to mind, she reached out to a notable name in children’s music – Aaron Burnett.
The Juno-nominated Winnipeg musician is a former teacher himself, and told CTV he couldn’t resist getting back into the classroom.
"A lot of kids have no experience what it's like to create music themselves,” said Burnett, who worked closely with students in groups of four or five to write verses of the song.
Each group researched a region of Canada and put forth ideas for lyrics based on the area. For many, it was an artistic way to travel across the country, visiting places they had never seen before.
"I want to visit the Canadian Shield because I want to climb on all the rocks and try and climb a couple trees,” said nine-year-old Lucas Geldart.
The real work, however, was crafting a catchy chorus.
"In this case, 'C-A-N-A-D-A, Canada's the place where we live and play. North to south, east to west; Canada's the place we love the best,” said Burnett. “Hopefully that will stick with them and make them proud of this country."
Based on what they learned from the song, many of the students told CTV they would love to visit the Maritimes. Others said the Canadian Shield, western cordillera and the arctic.
A recording of the song is in the works, and Friesen said she’d like to post it online to share with other schools to get even more Canadians singing along.
"All the new immigrants and refugees that will be joining our country, as well as all those that have been here right since the very beginning and all those that have joined us so far,” said Friesen.
