Pulse-pounding music rocked the Saddledome on Monday, and the 16,000 students in the stands loved every minute of it.
But this wasn’t a rock concert.
It was more of a celebration because every one of these students has taken action on local and global causes important to them.
Inspired by her first We Day last year, Grade 7 student Peyton Lake shaved her head for cancer helping a friend raise money to go to Ghana.
Lake’s reward is We Day, and knowing she has made a difference.
“It’s a feeling I can’t really describe, it’s just so thrilling,” said Lake.
“You can change one person’s life for the better, you can change so many others too.”
That’s the message celebrities, artists and spiritual leaders like Tom Jackson bring to their young audience.
“We’re going to make the world a better place today,” said Jackson.
Grade 9 student Andrew Shepherd believes his generation is proving the skeptics wrong.
“This is a generation that’s generally perceived as narcissistic or self-absorbed,” said Shepherd. “It’s cool to see so many people from this generation doing such things to earn their way to We Day.”
We Day started in Toronto seven years ago.
This year marks the event’s fourth run in Alberta.
More than 600 schools took part in today’s celebration.
“Young people who are 12 or 15 dream of changing the world,” said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of We Day.
“It’s our dream to empower them.”
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