Students from a number of Rocky View Schools (RVS) will be heading to WE Day Oct. 26 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary to join approximately 16,000 of their compatriots in a one-day event of inspiring speeches and music.
“We are taking 17 students in grades 6 to 8,” said Lucie Salucop, assistant principal at Cochrane’s Westbrook School. “I think they feel very empowered to make some kind of change in their local or global community. They see other students their age who are making positive changes in their community and feel empowered by that and influenced by that in a very positive way.”
Participation in WE Day is free to schools and students. Each student and each school is asked to take a pledge, however, to complete one local and one global change effort over the coming school year.
Salucop said Westbrook’s WE Day Committee has not chosen what they’ll take on as their local and global actions for this year, preferring to wait until after WE Day to make that decision.
“We like to do that after WE Day because the kids get other ideas of how they’d like to get involved,” she said.
WE Day has grown into a global movement to empower youth and effect change. The first WE Day was held in October 2007 in Toronto. Since then, WE Day celebrations have taken place in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Students have raised $62 million for more than 2,500 local and global organizations.
WE Day is the brainchild of Craig and Marc Kielburger from Thornhill, Ont. The Kielburgers founded Free the Children – now known as WE Charity – in 1995. The human rights organization is focused on providing children around the world with opportunities to improve their lives and be empowered.
Westbrook’s WE Day Committee has 28 members. Students have to apply to become part of the committee.
“They have an application form. It’s for anyone in grades 6 to 8,” Salucop said. “We ask them a variety of questions around being a global citizen – have they been involved in their school community, local community. What they know about citizenship and citizen participation. What does it mean to be globally aware – we try to really get to their character and desire to make a difference. Usually all the kids who apply to the committee get in.”
With only 18 tickets available for Westbrook School to attend WE Day, Salucop said the committee members held a lottery to determine who would get to go.
She gave up her ticket so the school’s other WE Day Committee teacher advisor, Kim Bonaventura, could attend. Salucop said she is trying to lead by example.
“If they went last year, they know they have the opportunity to give up their ticket. We talk about that as a leadership opportunity,” she said. “We’ve actually had some kids in the past give up their ticket. We’re trying to model what we’re teaching about leadership and being a good citizen.”
Last year, Westbrook School undertook a number of initiatives to give back to their own community and give back through the WE Charity organization.
“I think (the kids) really get a sense of how they can make a difference. They don’t have to do something large and grand,” Salucop said. “We really try to hit home with that. You don’t have to do something big. Every small thing you do makes a big difference.”
Westbrook’s WE Day Committee was able to collect approximately 150 items for the Cochrane Humane Society during the 2015-16 school year, with these items then donated to help pets displaced during the Fort McMurray wildfires in May 2016, according to Salucop.
“We sold rafiki bracelets – they’re actually a WE Day product. They’re made by women in Africa and the money goes to the Adopt a Village program,” she said. “We had a bake sale and the money again went to Adopt a Village.”
According to Salucop, the students were able to raise approximately $1,000 for the Adopt a Village program.
Other initiatives included an awareness campaign around being environmentally aware – turning off the lights for a day and recycling batteries to keep them out of the landfill.
Speakers and performers at WE Day 2016 in Calgary include Chris Hadfield, Paula Abdul, Margaret Trudeau, Rick Hansen, Jully Black, Tyler Shaw, Celebrity Marauders, Spencer West and more.
