Empowering, inspiring, energy-filled and fun were just some of the words students from Annaheim, Lake Lenore and Muenster schools used to describe their individual and collective experiences at the inaugural Saskatchewan We Day held Wednesday, February 27 at Credit Union Centre (CUC) in Saskatoon. We Day is a global initiative that has finally come to Saskatchewan where 15,000 students from across the province, filed into CUC to celebrate youth volunteerism and idealism.
Of those 15,000 screaming youth were 15 members of the Lake Lenore SRC and their chaperones.
"It was a fantastic day," said principal Ralph Viczko. "We got there a bit late due to the roads, but from the moment we arrived around 10 a.m., the place was roaring. By 2 p.m. it felt like I had been at a four-hour rock concert."
Viczko explained the school and the community of Lake Lenore is known for its proud tradition of volunteerism and reaching out to others in need.
Attending We Day is not something that comes along every day on the prairies but the school saw this as an opportunity for its leadership team to participate and see what is occurring on a global level.
"Our senior students are socially aware of topics such as child hunger and poverty and the lack of clean drinking water in other countries. I think We Day served as a vehicle for them to see what you can do as one person for someone on the other side of the world. Whether it is through the Free the Children foundation or another global organization, the opportunities are there."
Lake Lenore School may not have registered an official mark on the global scale but the school and community have a proven track record when it comes to helping others.
"Each year we have our Terry Fox walk," said Viczko. "And each year we raise between $1,500 and $1,800. We only have 57 families at our school so they are receiving funds beyond their immediate family circles."
Another example of the school's far-reaching efforts is a Christmas fundraiser from a couple of years ago that allowed the school to purchase 20 wheelchairs for people in a developing country. Instead of purchasing individual gifts for exchanging with one another, the money was pooled and used to purchase the wheelchairs.
"Yesterday at We Day, it was announced that PotashCorp is sending three students from Saskatchewan to Kenya as part of a Free the Children initiative. They announced the first student and she was in the audience and learned about it at that very moment. For our students, it is quite possible one of them or another of our young people may get chosen for such a trip or one that is similar. Students can apply for those trips and with the technology we have today that is making the world a much smaller place, there are lots of opportunities not just for our students but for youth everywhere."
Amanda Richard, Sheldon Moellenbeck, Miranda Lessmeister and Danielle Bauml, all Grade 12 students and all members of the Lake Lenore SRC, were blown away by the experience.
"There were so many kids there," said Lessmeister. "There was a lot of chaos but a lot of very positive energy."
"It is the biggest thing I've been at," said Moellenbeck. "It was interesting to see people like Mia Farrow and Martin Sheen who have lived big lives. It made me want to live a bigger life and the energy that was there made you feel bigger than yourself."
"It made you want to go out and volunteer," said Bauml. "Your small thing can make a huge difference in the world. You can make a difference."
"I have thought about volunteering overseas, but I was scared," said Richard. "But after the performance, it really made me want to do it."
These young leaders of their school and community came back with a wealth of new ideas to try. One was the Day of Silence which Moellenbeck explained is a way to draw attention to a social issue such as bullying. Students collect pledges for every hour they remain silent and the money is donated to a chosen charity.
The personal stories of the various guest speakers touched each of the students, even going so far as to send chills down their spines. Because many of the speakers were near their age, the enormity of the situations and the difference even the smallest effort to help someone made for individuals impacted them powerfully.
"It makes you want to go out there and help," they said as a group. "It is important for everyone to go out and volunteer."
"I would recommend We Day Saskatchewan happen again," said Moellenbeck. "Any schools who are interested in it should go."
Also travelling to We Day was Muenster School's Grade 7 and 8 students.
"We chose the younger ones to go so they could carry forward with the projects we undertake", said principal Dennis Gerwing.
"There is a lot of energy and personality in that group of Grade 7 and 8 students," he said.
Muenster School already fundraises for a number of causes but until now has never directly reported their activities to another organization.
Prior to applying for attendance at We Day, Gerwing met with his staff to discuss the formal undertaking of the criteria set out by the organization.
"There are three different types of fundraising events that qualify students for attending. They include local, national and international projects," said Gerwing.
Muenster School already supports a number of causes such as Saskatchewan's Telemiracle and it also sponsors a child overseas. But since attending We Day, there is talk of holding a penny drive for Free the Children. This would be done through the Royal Bank who is a partner with the organization.
"For me it is reassuring to know there is such a large movement of youth getting involved and it is up to us to help empower kids to act upon what they believe and to positively deal with potential backlash from their actions.
Gerwing noted the organizers and speakers at We Day were very good at motivating kids to act, especially after hearing a number of the personal stories. He also saw their raising awareness about the things that are going on in the world as a positive aspect for the students.
"For me personally, it was reassuring to hear that some of the bigger corporations are stepping up to the plate and giving back. That's not something we are always aware of. When you think about it, the cost of a well to provide clean drinking water is approximately $250 - this is a small cost compared to what it is here. Our country is certainly capable of providing the means to the less fortunate."
Two of the students attending We Day were Grade 8 student Alison Behiel and Grade 7 student Mykenzie Taphorn.
"I really liked the bands and there was one speaker, a girl who told her story about being bullied," said Alison. "As she was telling us, the lights went out and that's when she told us she was blind. She became blind at 14 and was bullied because of it."
According to the We Day agenda, that speaker was Molly Burke, a native of Oakville, Ontario who is 18 years old.
Alison learned that helping people out really makes a difference and she thinks it would be fun to go on a big trip to help children in Kenya.
"I enjoyed it very much," she said. "I would recommend it for everyone."
Schoolmate Mykenzie Taphorn liked all the performances but the one that caught her attention was when a backdrop was put in place and there were girls behind it, of which some were making pictures using leaves and others were dancing.
"It was really overwhelming when we first got there," she said. "I started looking around to see 15,000 people there. But once we got started it wasn't as overwhelming."
Mykenzie explained that after every speaker, the people on stage would engage the audience by asking them to make noise or respond to "How are you doing Saskatoon?" The youth were also taught the We Day dance which was made up of four parts.
"They did it really slowly to start with but as we caught on we kept going," she said.
The message Mykenzie took away from the event was there are people less fortunate than her and she can help.
"They gave us each a penny bag, she said. "If we fill it to the line marked on it, it will be enough to help provide clean drinking water for someone in a Third World country."
Mykenzie and her friends grabbed extra penny bags on their way out of the event.
"The atmosphere in there was so empowering," she said. "It plays with the emotions in a good way. It was a fantastic event and hopefully it will be here again because I would definitely go again".
While some students went as guests to We Day, cousins and good friends Taylor Bley and Diana Sarauer, Grade 10 and Grade 9 students at Annaheim School, were determined to attend We Day even though their school did not receive an invitation.
"I heard about We Day from a speaker at the Student Leadership Conference held in Watrous in September," said Diana. "I thought it would be a really cool thing to go to."
So using her youthful resourcefulness and determination and with a little help from their parents, the girls learned just days before the Saskatchewan event that volunteers were still needed. With five days to go, they were accepted as volunteers and both worked the event as crowd pumpers.
"It was up to us to keep the crowd going," said Taylor. "We were dancing and shouting and making sure everyone stayed engaged."
Even though the girls were on the upper level of the arena, the energy was bursting through the roof.
"It was kind of crazy, but in a good way," said Diana.
Despite the generation gap, Diana found the Mia Farrow and Martin Sheen speeches to be her favourite part of the presentation.
"I think they were the best speakers," she said. "Their messages seemed really authentic. They really wanted to help people."
"They (the presenters) kept saying we can change things - we, as in kids," said Taylor. "I really felt afterwards that we can make a difference."
"People always say, youth are the future," Diana said. "But we're really the present."
Even though the girls worked at the event, they still came away with the same messages as everyone else. We Day Saskatchewan was perhaps perfectly timed for the cousins, as they are both part of the local Team Mexico who will travel in February 2014 to help build houses in that country.
"We are even more enthusiastic about what we are going to be doing there," both said.
Each student and chaperone who attended may have had different highlights of the day but overall they all came away empowered that a person in even the smallest of communities can make a huge impact on the world around them, whether at home or globally. The smallest act can make the world of difference to someone near or far.
Did you know?
Craig Keilburger, co-founder of Free The Children made headlines in 1995 when he was 12. He and a few of his schoolmates, with help from teachers and family, launched a project called Free the Children, committed to "children helping children through education."
We Day is a celebration of honouring those students and youth who are idealists and working to create a better world through volunteerism.
The first We Day event was held October 19, 2007 in Toronto with 8,000 students in attendance. Year of We was launched - the year-long program in which youth learn to lead change.
February 27, 2013, Saskatchewan's first We Day at Credit Union Place in Saskatoon.
