We Day is an event held yearly that is based on “youth empowerment” and is organized by the Free the Children charity. Held across Canada and the United States in various cities, We Day motivates youth to take action on local and global issues. Kicking off in 2007, thousands of Canadian students have attended We Day events, which feature speeches and performances from global leaders, social activists and public figures. Each student group that attends is asked to make a commitment of one local and one global action throughout the year in order to help create positive change in the world.
Last year, when some grade 9 students from Chestermere Lake Middle School, they returned from the event motivated and ready to make a positive change. They set out on a mission to raise $10,000 to build a school in Africa. They kicked off their campaign in November 2013, and by the end of June 2014 had raised over $11,000 to use towards their goal of building that school.
This year, twelve year old Chestermere resident Noah Skrynyk was nominated by his classmates at Prince of Peace School for his excellence in leadership and earned himself the privilege of attending We Day 2014 that was held in Calgary on November 3rd. Noah’s peers named him as being someone who could accept the extra responsibility outside of his academics, someone who has a positive influence among his peers and someone who they felt could make a difference locally and internationally. Noah had previously been nominated to attend We Day 2013, but fell ill the day before the event leaving him unable to attend.
When asked what his favourite part of the event was, Noah replied “my favourite part was learning about Spencer West (he has no legs) and how he climbed a mountain and wheeled himself to Calgary from Edmonton. I was inspired by how Spencer makes the best out of everyday despite his disability”.
Noah went on to explain, “I learned about how people have changed the world in different ways and that small changes can make a huge impact. They said that a lot of people don’t think changing the world is cool, but everyone there thought it was the coolest thing you can possible do”.
We Day brings together young people to celebrate what they are doing in their local and global communities and to inspire another year of change by sharing the passion of world leaders and entertainers. We Day is tied to the year-long We Act program, which offers educational resources, campaigns and support materials to help turn the event’s inspiration into sustained action. Through We Act, students commit to taking one local and one global action to better the world, earning their way to We Day.
Young Noah will be one to watch as he ended by saying, “one person can make a big difference in our community and our world.”
