They earned their admission to a spectacular motivational event.聽
A total of 43 Grades 7 and 8 students from Estevan鈥檚 Sacred Heart/Sacre Coeur School joined about 15,000 other young people from 424 other schools, including Estevan鈥檚 Spruce Ridge, for the annual We Day in Saskatchewan.
Coline Smetaniuk, one of three teacher/chaperones for the students, said the trip to Saskatoon, the hotel stay and the event at the SaskTel Centre went without any major glitches.
Mark Moriarty and Nancy Bourbonnais were the two other teachers who also got in on the event that featured inspirational messages from the likes of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, Her Excellency Dr. Joyce Banda, Tyler Shaw, Rick Hansen and Jessi Cruickshank along with actor and author Henry Winkler.聽
The students do not purchase tickets to the event, but rather earn them through a series of community volunteer events and engagements.聽
Free the Children provides motivation for the annual event which Smetaniuk said they send delegates to every two years, allowing their elementary school to send their more senior students, at least once, to the We Day spectacular.聽
鈥淭he whole school actually gets involved through the Leadership Group. They perform a number of socially responsible activities within the school and throughout the community all year.聽
The teacher said she found the subject matter very relevant for young people who are entering their mid-teen and adult years and how they can make the world a better place for others.聽
She said the music was great and speakers such as Hadfield and Winkler struck a chord with the students.聽
鈥淥f course, most don鈥檛 know Winkler from his former TV days as The Fonz, but rather as an author of over 30 books aimed at children and his more recent acting roles,鈥� she said.聽
Driving a message of social activism home to impressionable young people in this manner 鈥渟eems to be sustainable and a wonderful place for the young people to put their energy in a fairly effective way.鈥澛�
We Day co-ordinators noted the event continually urges young people to take responsibility for their lives and assists them in thinking through events and global issues so they can make informed decisions as they move forward in leadership roles.
The Spruce Ridge School experience at We Day will be featured in the March 11 edition of 麻豆视频east Lifestyles.聽
