Social justice took an extended field trip last Friday when a Grade 6 teacher from Muriel Martin elementary and 17 of her students took part in a daylong event called We Day 2010. The trip was pretty far afield — it took place in Vancouver.
Teacher Danielle Jean co-ordinated the special jaunt after learning about Free the Children, the Ontario-based humanitarian organization started by then 12-year-old Craig Kielburger. Its objective is to rally young people to improve education around the world through awareness and fundraising. Its efforts have succeeded in building more than 500 schools in developing regions.
One of its primary tools towards achieving that goal is Me to We, a website that sells socially conscious and environmentally friendly goods, but also arranges special events such as the one Jean and her class attended.
We Day is a kind of jamboree held every year in Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal. Each includes an itinerary of guest speakers and performers that inspires the attendees to get involved in social justice and to work for the betterment of humankind. The event kicks off a year-long program called We Schools in Action that encourages the kids to create positive change by taking local and global action throughout the year.
Some of this event’s speakers included Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Al Gore, Martin Sheen and Rick Hansen. The list of performers included Hedley, Barenaked Ladies and Colbie Caillat.
Jean said the event was free to attend but the school had to commit to taking extra efforts to fulfil its obligation for the We Schools in Action program.
“For example, one of the things that we’re going to be doing is Howling for Hunger where the kids pick up food bank donations before they go out trick-or-treating,” she stated. “The kids are also doing individual service projects. Some of the students have chosen to volunteer at the humane society. I have one of my students volunteering at the Hope Mission. They were allowed to pick whatever they wanted. Some of them picked to read with their little brother or sister. Some of them picked to shovel their neighbour’s driveway.”
Apart from being a great way of encouraging positive outward behaviours, it also satisfies an educational component of their curriculum.
“The goal is to try to make them more socially aware, make them more active citizens. One of the focuses of the social studies program in Grade 6 is to develop active citizens and participate.”
She said the students were all thrilled with the whole experience. Although some really just enjoyed seeing the performers, others took to heart the larger aim of We Day.
“They were very excited about the trip. Some of them definitely got the message and understood why they were there and felt inspired by the speakers.”
She added that she hopes to continue to participate with the program on an annual basis.
