MacNeill students participate in 'We Day'

12 MacNeill students from our Senior Leadership Class, along with their teacher, Mr. T. Irani, had the privilege of attending the 2011 We Day on Oct. 13th.  They joined over 18,000 other youth and educators inside Rogers Arena to celebrate the positive impact young people are making on global change.



MacNeill Leadership Students in Rogers Arena for We Day



This year's conference had an impressive list of speakers who delivered stories to inspire, motivate and celebrate the amazing potential that today's youth have to lead local and global change.

• Mikhail Gorbachev
• Mia Farrow
• Shaquille O'Neil
• Hedley
• Shawn Desman
• Down with Webster

We Day has developed from a movement that has energized youth from across the globe to make a difference for others.  The following excerpt has come out of the book "Me to We", written by Craig and Marc Kielburger.

"Me to We is a life philosophy, a way of living that feeds the positive in the world - one action, one act of faith, one small step at a time.  Living Me to We has the potential to revolutionize kindness, redefine happiness and success, and rekindle community bonds powerful enough to change your life and the lives of everyone around you."

Craig Kielburger, when just 12 years old,  became intrigued by a newspaper article about child labour in Islamabad, Pakistan.  Impacted by this article, he shared the story with this class and asked other students to volunteer to help fight for children's rights.  Eleven other students in his class put up their hands to volunteer, and this was the start of what is now a world wide organization called "Free the Children".  Free the Children is now the world's largest network of children helping children through education, and millions of young people have been involved in innovative programs in more than forty-five countries.


Today's youth have the ability, energy and passion to be change-makers for a better tomorrow.  The MacNeill students who attended the We Day celebration left inspired and have been challenged to find ways to make a positive difference in the lives of others.  I look forward to seeing how our students will build upon this day as the year progresses.


MacNeill coined the term "We not Me" as part of our POWER matrix (the W in POWER is for We not Me) to remind our students that we must be considerate of others within the school setting in order to build a positive school community.  We have over 1000 students and staff in our school on a daily basis, and we all need to work together so that our school is a safe place to learn and where all students and staff feel a sense of belonging.  It is evident that our students understand this concept and it is great to see them looking out for each other and supporting each other on a daily basis.

Here is a short video clip about We Day:



Here are some reflections from a grade 12 student, Denzil Muncherji, who attended WE Day:

WE day by Free the Children - Can you picture 18,000 people doing the wave in an arena? Well, a few lucky grade 12s from our school got to be a part of the wave! WE day consisted of the few most inspirational hours of our lives. Within these hours, some of the speakers we had are as follows: Spencer West, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mia Farrow, Liz Murray, Waneek Horn-Miller, Michel Chikwanine, Robin Wiszowaty and Noah Kaplan. The main message every single speaker was trying to get across to us in their own way along with their own story was that there is such a thing as ‘the Power of One’ – one person really can change the world.


Other performers included Shaquille O’Neal, Shawn Desman (who did the WE day dance with us), Hedley, Down with Webster and Classified. These performers have taken their time in their own way to help with Free the Children. They inspire us to help others who deserve to have what we do, to live in good weather conditions under a roof with clothes and a strong immunity system. They show us that even the simple things we do like donate or raise a few dollars help people in need.

The highlight of my day was when Marc and Craig Kielburger spoke. Craig being the very reason Free the Children started – when a 12 year old boy stood up in front of his class and said “I want to do something about it, who’s with me?” The passion those two have till this day for this organization is tremendous and very inspiring. They speak with heart and you just know they will do anything to help someone, go the distance to see a smile on a child’s face and that is motivation - motivation to help us reach our potential. WE day has touched a lot of hearts and one day, I know a lot of people that were there will “be the change [they] want to see.”
- Denzil Muncherji - Grade 12