Students celebrate year of empowerment

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Published on Thursday, November 6, 2014

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

The Neepawa Banner

What do an astronaut, a filmmaker, an HIV positive teen and a multi-platinum recording artist have in common?  They were just four of the 20 speakers at this year’s WE Day in Winnipeg. 

Held last Wednesday, 16,000 students and teachers packed the MTS Centre for the annual event aimed at empowering students to work towards the betterment of their local and global communities. This is Winnipeg’s fourth WE Day and students from Neepawa have attended every year.  This year, 82 NACI staff and students, from Grade 6 to Grade 12, attended the event. The students were all apart of NACI’s global action group, H.O.P.E. (Helping Our World Pursue Equality), which has grown to 103 members.

This year’s WE Day theme was the Year of Empowerment- students looked at economic, technological, social and educational empowerment. The day was split into four periods, with students learning about one of the pillars in each period.

Grade 11 student Samantha Nickart attended her fourth WE Day this year. “It’s always so much fun,” she said. 

Grade 11 student Lina Gordon said, “WE Day was awesome. It’s always a great experience.” She noted that the energy levels are really high at the event that brings together 16,000 people who are all there for the same reason and who all have the same goal.

For Nickart, one of the most memorable speakers was Kweku Mandela, a social advocate, filmmaker and grandson of President Nelson Mandela. Described as a solemn, serious and powerful speaker, she called his presentation “inspiring”. 

Mandela told the attendees the story of his grandfather’s imprisonment and release after 27 years of incarceration. His release was due to calls from all over the world, many of them the voices of youth. Mandela called the students lions and as a group, they become a pride. NACI teacher Michelle Young said that Mandela stressed that strength and leadership comes from within.

Nickhart also said that Ashley Rose, a 16-year-old woman from Toronto who was born with HIV, was a speaker who really stood out. When Rose first told the audience this fact about herself, partway through her presentation, the crowd was shocked. “It was silence, there were 16,000 people and not one noise,” said Nickart.

Canadian astronaut Dr. Dave Williams’ message of passion and perseverance was also a strong message for the students to take home.  Williams wanted to be a medical doctor but initially, he wasn’t accepted.  Through perseverance, he ended up gaining acceptance into medical school and ultimately became an astronaut.