Heather Latter
Grades 6-8 students with the Northwest Catholic District School Board had the chance last week to participate in a forum led by two speakers from “Me to We,” a new kind of social enterprise for those wanting to help change the world with their daily choices.
“Our tour focuses on youth and change,” said Galen Kerrick, who offered up a motivating and inspiring address to the students along with Britta Badour.
“The message is that young people can make change possible by finding and using their gifts and talents,” he noted.
Local Catholicity co-ordinator Kathy Mueller explained the board introduced a student leadership component to the school program as part of its Catholic Character Education initiative.
“This fall we received a government grant to develop leadership amongst our students,” she remarked. “We have planned [this] student leadership forum at both ends of our school board called ‘Youth for Change.’”
Mueller was able to engage the help of the “Me to We” group, which supports the “Free the Children” organization.
“This speaking tour strives to motivate and inspire youth to become agents of change in their local and global community,” she stressed.
Students from Our Lady of the Way School in Stratton and St. Patrick’s in Atikokan attended the forum last Thursday at St. Francis School here. The speakers then gave the same presentation to students in Dryden and Sioux Lookout on Friday.
Kerrick said prior to their presentation that they generally receive an overwhelmingly positive response from the students.
“In the afternoon, we hold workshops where we take the enthusiasm generated during our presentation and channel it to develop leadership,” he explained.
During their presentation, Kerrick and Badour talked to the students about the story of Craig Kielburger, who in 1995, at the age of 12, had his eyes opened to the harsh realities of child labour.
Upon starting up a school-based club to raise funds and awareness, his passion for change grew into “Free the Children,” which he founded with his brother, Marc.
It is now an international phenomenon with more than one million youths in North America taking action for a better world.
The “Me to We” speakers shared stories from their own experiences and struggles with social issues. Kerrick talked about how being bullied in school diminished his confidence to follow his passion of acting and singing.
But eventually he overcame his insecurities and discovered he could use his gift to make a difference.
Badour, meanwhile, shared how she grew up in an abusive household and how she bottled up her feelings of guilt until she started writing.
Soon she was sharing her poetry, which is something that became very special to her.
“It’s okay to find something you love and to believe in yourself,” Kerrick told the students gathered in the gym at St. Francis.
“As we get older, we tend to lose the belief that we can do anything,” he noted. “But it’s these gifts and activities we can use to make a difference, whether it’s cooking, drawing, dancing, or playing soccer.”
Following the presentation, the students participated in group workshops where they brainstormed and developed social justice action plans they can use to make a difference in their schools and communities.
Kerrick indicated other youth have gone on to do things such as adopting a village, assisting in community development, and creating sustainable access to education.
“I’m extremely excited that we were able to get the ‘Me to We’ organization to come to the north,” enthused Mary-Catherine Kelly, education director for the Northwest Catholic District School Board.
“It was great to have such exuberant and enthusiastic young people to inspire our children [into] thinking about social justice.”
Kelly thought the presentation was outstanding, and that the students were very engaged and excited to meet people from this organization.
“Because in the classroom they had been doing work over the past couple of years on social justice activities, and particularly on the Kielburger brothers,” she noted, adding they were familiar with the stories the visitors told.
Kelly also said she thinks the presentation helped with bringing student leaders forward.
“All of our schools do activities that always work towards helping those in need in our community and they also do social justice projects in other countries, as well,” she remarked.
“So this was a great way to inspire them and keep them on the task.”
