Outreach To Youth

As a part of activating its mission, AOMDA launched a pilot project in 2008 to engage young people in the value of perpetuating remembrance. As part of an artwork competition, AOMDA invited 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students in the City of Waregem to draw and caption a picture answering the question “Why Should We Remember Them?” We received over 150 submissions from school children of the Guido Gezelle, Keukeldam, and Torenhof schools. The winning submissions were:

First Prize

Oorlog is verleden

Second Prize

Third Prize

Omdat zij in de oorlog gevochten hebben voor de eer van ons land: Belgie.

Honorable mention

Omdat het nooit meer zou gebeuren.

Honorable mention

The Honorable Sam Fox, United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, and His Excellency Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium, congratulated the first, second, and third place winners after the 2008 Memorial Day Ceremony at the Flanders Field American Cemetery.

Forty other pictures made it to the semi-finals of the competition. Click here to see a gallery of the children’s artwork.