Keneisha Charles is a grade 12 student from Rutland Secondary School in the Central Okanagan (SD 23). After learning about a battalion of black Canadian soldiers in the First World War, she decided to write a poem and essay about Pte. Aubrey Mitchell.

Charles submitted her work to the Vimy Foundation and was selected from among hundreds, as one of 20 students across the country to take part in the annual pilgrimage. Thanks to the Kelowna Daily Courier for permission to use this story. Learn more here.