Office of the Premier
Today more than 20,000 B.C. students are being rewarded for taking action in their communities with a concert they’ll never forget at the 2016 WE Day Vancouver event. The year’s line-up includes Serena Ryder, Paula Abdul and Lilly Singh among many others.
Premier Christy Clark attended WE Day and announced that government is donating $200,000 to WE – formerly known as Free the Children – to support WE Day and WE Schools educational programs. Since 2010, government has donated over $1 million to WE.
“Today is a great example of how students can make lifelong connections and build valuable skills and that will serve them well into the future,” said Premier Clark. “Each and every student here today can be proud of their contributions, hard work and dedication to help others and make the world a better place.”
Education Minister Mike Bernier attended the education breakfast that kicked off WE Day Vancouver with educators, superintendents and school administrators.
“WE Day is a celebration of the hard work B.C. students are doing to make a positive difference here in B.C. and around the world,” said Bernier. “It is inspiring to see our students continue to build strong personal values and strong communities.”
Students cannot buy a ticket to WE Day. Instead, they earn admission by taking local and global actions during the school year, like volunteering, fundraising, collecting food for homeless shelters and raising money to build classrooms overseas.
Led by co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger, WE Day is the manifestation of WE’s values. WE Day Vancouver inspires youth to make a difference in their communities and around the world.
“In just the last year, students from 920 schools across B.C. have made truly remarkable impacts on their communities, volunteering over 750,000 hours and raising $2 million in support of causes like the Fort McMurray wildfire relief, welcoming of Syrian refugees, hunger, bullying and poverty,” said Craig Kielburger. “We’re grateful for the Province’s generous support which will help empower even more young change-makers to get involved do great things in their communities.”
More than a one-day event, WE Day is connected to the yearlong WE Schools program, which provides educators with curriculum, educational resources and a calendar of ideas that challenge students to identify local and global issues like hunger and poverty. WE Schools helps young people turn the WE Day’s inspiration into sustained action.
(flickr.com) Learn More:
WE Day Vancouver: http://www.weday.com/we-day-events/vancouver/
WE Schools: http://www.weday.com/we-schools/
