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‘One Day or Day One. You Decide’: Thousands of students attend Empowerment Day 2018

May 4, 2018

GUELPH, Ontario – It was a day that surely will not be forgotten by thousands of students.

Empowerment Day 2018 was held on Thursday, with 5,000 Upper Grand District School Board students packing the Sleeman Centre in Guelph.

Beginning in 2015 by students at Drayton Heights Public School, Empowerment Day is a chance for students in grades 5 to 8 from all over the district to come together, hear powerful and inspirational stories and take the energy from Empowerment Day back to their schools.

The theme of this year’s student-led event was One Day or Day One. You Decide. Empowerment Day featured a slate of speakers and performers that took the crowd from excited and out of their seats one moment, to silent and in awe in the next.

The morning started with an acknowledgment of the traditional territory that the events were taking place on and a beautiful drum dance.

Drum dance at Empowerment Day 2018.

Guelph’s own NEFE then took to the stage, her powerful voice carrying across the arena.  Born Sarah Jean Felker, the singer-songwriter is a Guelph CVI grad and burgeoning force in the Canadian music industry.

Singer-songwriter NEFE performs at Empowerment Day 2018.

Following a student tribute to Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, Mike Downie spoke to students about the reconciliation work still needed in Canada. Mike is the co-creator of Secret Path, a project which he and Gord undertook after hearing the story of Chanie Wenjack, a young boy who died in 1966 trying to walk home and escape the Residential School he was forced to attend.

Mike Downie speaks at Empowerment Day 2018.

After a lively dance break, Michel Chikwanine took to the stage.  Chikwanine is a former child soldier and author. He grew up amid the terror of war and now inspires people to believe in their ability to make a difference. Chikwanine began his talk having students cheering and laughing, in learning to pronounce his last name. When Michel told the youth about his experiences as a child soldier, thousands fell silent.

Author and former child soldier Michel Chikwanine speaks to students at Empowerment Day 2018.

Excitement built as the day drew closer to the unveiling of Empowerment Day’s special mystery guest. The burst of cheers nearly blew the roof off the Sleeman Centre, when musician Serena Ryder took to the stage. Ryder played a few hit songs for the crowd and then spoke to the day’s MCs, Mandy and Halle, about what she finds empowering.

The final speaker of the day was Jen Bricker, a remarkable gymnast and aerialist born without legs and with her heart on the opposite side of her chest. Bricker has lived her life by one simple rule: Never say ‘can’t.’ At Empowerment Day, Bricker absolutely wowed the crowd with her performance, gracefully twisting and tumbling in her aerial silks, high up above the ground.

Also featured throughout the day were the hard-working students from Drayton Heights PS’s student council, UGDSB choirs from Mitchell Woods PS and Ken Danby PS, and Myrna Hutchison from Get in Touch for Hutch, an organization that connects youth to resources and support relating to suicide prevention and awareness and mental health.

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