Flying to new heights
WestJet makes it possible for deserving Yellowknife students to experience WE Day Alberta
Lauren Seabrook, an 18-year-old recipient of the Governor General’s Sovereign Medal for Volunteers—together with the ME to WE Club at École William McDonald School in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories—is changing the world one step at a time and inspiring others to do the same.
Seabrook, a former student of the middle school, estimates that since Grade 5 she has raised about $30,000 for local and global causes. But she and the ME to WE Club aren’t stopping there. This year alone, they’ve collected 745 pounds of food for an October food drive and raised $1,000 for clean water projects in developing countries. They have also helped build a school in Ecuador and are continuing their fundraising efforts to support more projects at the school, including building a water well. And, in a first for the Northwest Territories, they hosted their very own WE DayX event at their school.
WE DayX celebrations are locally based and organized WE Day-style events where students can share stories and get inspired about social change. Seabrook had the opportunity to speak at the event and tell her story of overcoming the obstacles created by her chronic illness. Her compelling message? “There’s always time, no small effort is wasted and we’re better together,” she told the audience.
Melanie Parisella, a teacher and the ME to WE Club organizer at the school, praised the WE DayX event for helping young people “know [that] they are not alone in what they’re going through.” The event covered themes such as overcoming discrimination and challenges, achievement in sports, living with mental illness and more. There was even an impromptu dance party that broke out between speaker sessions as everyone in the audience rose to their feet.
Because of the incredible actions of the students of École William McDonald School, and the impact they have made in their community and around the world, the ME to WE Club earned their way to WE Day Alberta with the WestJet WE Day Experience.
Through the WestJet WE Day Experience, a partnership between WestJet and WE, students from rural and remote communities who have demonstrated a commitment to making a difference through their actions throughout the school year are selected to fly to WE Day events across Canada. The program began in 2014—that first year WestJet and WE made it possible for 117 students to attend WE Day events in eight cities across Canada for their first WE Day experience. Since then, more than 500 WE Schools students and educators have also been selected to participate in this special experience because of their dedication to creating positive social change.
This year, WestJet will be taking the young change-makers of École William McDonald School to WE Day Alberta on October 22, 2019, at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
From collecting hundreds of pounds of food to address food insecurity, to fundraising to improve global access to clean water, the students of École William McDonald School are paving the way for a brighter future for all and showing the world what the power of good can do. These deserving students’ incredible and inspiring actions are being recognized and celebrated, thanks to the WestJet WE Day Experience.