P.E.I. student 1 of 16 chosen for international study abroad trip

A P.E.I. student has won a Beaverbrook Vimy prize, and will be one of a select group of 16 to go on special trip to Europe to study the two world wars.

Prize recipients are from across Canada, the U.K., and France.

From Aug. 9-23 Hannah Rogers of Kinkora, who will start Grade 10 in September, will be travelling to England, Belgium and France to learn about the history of those countries during the first and second world wars.

As part of her application for the prize, she had to write an essay on a piece of war art. Rogers chose the painting House of Ypres by A. Y. Jackson, who was a member of the Group of Seven.

"The entire painting is extremely sullen in appearance," Rogers wrote.

"The barely standing houses hold a small taste of what once was but is now lost. The grey skies give the impression of an uncaring and depressed environment. The lack of greenery showcases the lack of brightness and life in the painting. The soldiers seem to be leaving the town behind, moving on, and abandoning what's left."

The trip begins with lectures at Oxford University in England, continues with a visit to Ypres in Belgium, and then to Vimy Memorial and Juno Beach in France.

More P.E.I. news