Osoyoos Elementary School Grade 6 teacher Ryan Miller and six of his students made an impressive presentation to Town of Osoyoos council Monday as they asked the town to support the school sending 18 students to the upcoming We Day celebrations in Vancouver on Oct. 21. Council voted to provide $1,000 in funding and allow the students and chaperones to use the community bus for the trip. Joining Miller were (from left) Jessalyn Svendsen, Amy Rathgeber, Amber Wyse, Kyleigh Turnbull, Caitlyn Robinson and Jordan Brunner. (Keith Lacey photo)
Town of Osoyoos council has enthusiastically donated the use of the town’s community bus and providing funding of $1,000 so 18 students from Osoyoos Elementary School can attend We Day celebrations in Vancouver in two weeks.
Six Grade 6 students from teacher Ryan Miller’s class at the local elementary school made an impressive and impassioned presentation to town council Monday detailing why We Day has become such an important event for young people across Canada and around the world.
They had originally requested $500 in funding and use of the community bus.
However, members of council voted to double that amount when considering the motion at Monday’s regular meeting of council.
Half of the money will be spent to help pay the costs of sending the students to Vancouver and the final $500 will be spent to help students promote and organize community events once they return.
The six students making the presentation included Jessalyn Svendsen, Amy Rathgeber, Amber Wyse, Kyleigh Turnbull, Caitlyn Robinson and Jordan Brunner.
We Day is a life-changing event that combines the energy of a live concert with the inspiration of extraordinary stories of leadership and change. It has evolved from a single event nearly eight years ago into a series of 14 stadium-sized events held across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Last year, more than 200,000 students attended We Day celebrations.
Close to 20,000 elementary school students from across B.C. will attend this year’s We Day celebrations at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
This will be the fourth-consecutive year that students from Osoyoos Elementary School will be sending a contingent of students to We Day festivities in Vancouver.
This is the third straight year council has approved funding of $500 to assist the school with the We Day program. This is now the second straight year that the town has approved lending the community bus to transport 18 students, a couple of teachers and three adult chaperones to the event.
The school has made sure that they have the appropriate insurance in place for the bus as the town does not normally approve the bus to be used for overnight trips.
We Day is an incredible opportunity for students to get motivated to be leaders in their classroom and in the community, said Miller.
Students in the past have been excellent leaders and have been given enhanced opportunities through school activities to create positive change, he said.
Over the past couple of years, students at the school have become actively involved in raising money and increasing community awareness for organizations such as the Osoyoos Food Bank, regional SPCA and the local women’s shelter.
Students plan on fundraising efforts to assist victims of this past summer’s wildfires and help in local fundraising efforts to bring a family of Syrian refugees to Osoyoos.
“Through our actions, we effect positive change in the world,” said one of the students during her presentation to council.
Being able to use the town’s community bus rather than having to rent a large school bus for the trip to Vancouver would result in significant savings, said one of the students.
Coun. Mike Campol said both of his children have attended We Day celebrations over the past couple of years and were inspired and motivated by participating in the event.
His son actually attended a We Day summer camp in Ontario this past summer and has enrolled in leadership training programs, he said.
“This program builds future leaders and the positive impact it has in the community is absolutely incredible,” he said.
Coun. C. J. Rhodes thanked the girls for their impressive presentation and said approving their requests was a very easy decision to make.
“If the future of Osoyoos is in your hands, we are all pretty darn lucky,” he said.
Since 2007, more than 600,000 youth have participated in We Day celebrations and have volunteered more than 14.6 million hours of service to the community.
They have also helped raise more than $45 million for more than 1,000 local and global causes and collected more than 5.6 million pounds of food for local food banks.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
