Mattie (left) and Gyll are two of the 15 Osoyoos Elementary School students who traveled to Vancouver to attend WE Day Nov. 22. At the event students are provided with the tools needed to advocate for social or humanitarian change both in their communities and on a global scale. (Michele Weisz photo)

By Michele Weisz

Osoyoos Times

After town council approved their request for funds and the use of the town bus for WE Day in Vancouver, 15 exhausted students and three faculty members from Osoyoos Elementary School returned home Nov. 22.

This year was the seventh that the school has participated in the international event which aims to provide students with the tools to advocate for social or humanitarian change both in their communities and on a global scale.

Each year the school applies to the organization, stating what type of things they plan to accomplish in the coming year.

Eighteen tickets are sent to the school and the faculty must decide which students will have the opportunity to attend the event.

In order to be considered, students must submit an application that includes answers to four questions: what have you done in the past, what do you plan to do in the future, how do they connect to the core competencies, and what do you think you’ll take away from WE day?

Many of the students have older siblings that have participated in WE Day in previous years and are familiar with the organization long before they apply.

Fifteen students are chosen based on their answers as well as their leadership qualities. Of the 15, four attended a town council meeting Nov. 19 to make their request. Teacher Richard Bayliss said that having the students attend the council meeting is a good opportunity to gain an understanding of how the municipal process works.

At the meeting the students began by stating that they were “honoured” to have been chosen to represent their fellow students at the council meeting.

Each of the four students took turns telling council members about the various initiatives that were carried out by the students who attended WE Day in previous years, and how they plan to take on the responsibility of providing leadership to the younger students in their school.

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Council members watched a short video about WE Day and listened as the students explained what they hoped to gain from attending.

The students explained that using the town bus rather than the much larger yellow school bus would lower both the cost of the trip as well as their carbon footprint.

Town Council approved their request for both the funds and use of the town bus.

Bayliss said it’s not only the students who gain something from attending WE Day.

“It’s a neat experience for us as educators as well. We’re inspired by it too.”

After their return, Bayliss meets with the students to discuss the ideas the students have based on the tools they received from WE Day.

Bayliss said that while implementing all of the ideas is not always realistic, he asks the students to narrow down their choices by asking them “what are the two or three things that really spark you?”

Students that participate in WE Day must pledge one local and one global initiative.

“They might have their own passions … whatever it might be that the different students have that kind of sparks their passion, then it becomes our job to facilitate what it is that they want to do,” said Bayliss.

WE charity was founded by Canadian brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Craig was just 12 when he began a program whose initial aim was to free children in the world from poverty. The charitable organization, which began in Toronto, has become international.

Each year, schools from numerous communities throughout several countries attend a regional WE Day workshop where they learn how to make a difference the way Kielburger did.

Following this year’s WE Day, founder Kielburger tweeted “This year WE Schools participants in BC volunteered close to 900,000 hours, collected 972,971 pounds of food, and raised nearly $1.8 million in support of 662 local and global organizations. It’s so inspiring to see their impact.”