As a
teacher, I believe it is important to empower my students and give them the
skills, opportunity and belief that they are capable of achieving greatness.
Sometimes this happens in the classroom, through carefully thought-out lessons,
sometimes it happens accidentally through those spontaneous “teachable moments”
that present themselves throughout the day, and sometimes, it happens through co-curricular
involvement. This is why for the past four years I have embraced the opportunity
to be the Me to We Team staff sponsor for my school. Each year my students
engage in local and global action in association with Me to We and Free the
Children. They work to create change in their community, raise awareness of
issues and fundraise to support Free the Children initiatives. All of the hard
work and dedication is celebrated in the Fall with “WE Day”.
At WE Day,
my students, along with 20 000 other change makers, celebrate and gain new
inspiration. Founders of the movement, Canadian brothers Craig and Mark Kielburger
are charismatic speakers and have been inspiring students to take action to
make the world a better place for 20 years!
This year
my students found new motivation and inspiration once again by listening to the
variety of performers. As expected, the students really enjoyed the musical performances
by Hedley, Hozier, Nick Jonas and Carly Rae Jepsen to mention but a few.
Students resonated
with the passionate story of Canadian author Joseph Boyden who shared his
struggles with mental health issues and encouraged students to use creative
releases to manage the sometimes overwhelming pressures of life. Hearing that
we all have creativity inside us gives strength to students who may be
struggling with similar issues.
Mike “Pinball”
Clemons of the Toronto Argos reminded students that no one can do it alone;
that we all need our teammates to be successful. A positive message for
students and teachers alike to take back into the classroom.
Some of the
most profound inspiration came from an unexpected source this year. Henry Winkler,
best known as “The Fonz” shared a passionate story about how, as a learning
disabled student, he was often not able to be successful in traditional
academia and the struggles he experienced to get through school. I had no idea of his personal struggles with
school, but I guess that goes to show you that you can’t judge a book by its
cover.
Mr. Winkler
gave hope to students saying, “We all have a challenge and each of us have a
different one. You are not defined by your challenge you are defined by your
tenacity. You are defined by your power.”
If my
students heard nothing else that day, I hope they heard him make that single
statement.
As a
teacher of students with learning disabilities, and as a student with a
learning disability myself, this was the most powerful message of the day. The
cheers from my students, and myself, were electric as he finished speaking.
WE Day
certainly inspired this new generation of students to head back to school and
take on the challenges of the world. Already this year we have pledged to pack “no
waste lunches” and use re-usable water bottles at school. The team has already
packed nearly 100 non waste lunches! We
are just getting started on a month long food drive to help a local food bank in
our community. My students have many other ideas which we will work together to
put into action this year.
Watching my
students find their voices and passion through our involvement in WE Day makes
me immensely proud as a teacher. They are a tenacious and powerful group of
young people and I feel privileged to be on this journey with them.
The spark
of this generation is bright, and together WE WILL Change the World.
If you want
to check out the Me to We and Free the Children organization, campaigns or
learn more, check them out here and here.
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