If you think that kids today are only interested in their mobile devices, Donna Cross has 58 young people at Virden Junior High she’d like you to meet.
Last fall when the new school year began, more students joined her social justice group WeAct than ever before. These Grade Five to Eights volunteer in their community and learn about social inequity around the world. They do it on their own time and get no extra credits for it.
Cross, their resource teacher, says, “As much as people say kids these days don’t want to do stuff, they have a blast volunteering. They always say the same thing: ‘That was fun, can we do that again?’”
Members of the group pack hampers for the Virden Food Cupboard on Wednesdays. They’ve also helped the Christmas Cheer Board prepare hampers and made Christmas shoe boxes to send overseas.
For their next project called We Create Change, they’ll collect loose change for charity.
Then Feb. 1 is We Are Silent day when WeAct students wear black bands across their mouths, don’t speak for 24 hours, and collect pledges for a cause they believe in.
Numbers exploded
Cross started the Virden WeAct group in 2013 based on the Me to We youth movement spearheaded by Canadian brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. She was inspired by a trip to Africa with Virden Collegiate’s social justice group and wanted to create something similar for junior high students.
That first year, 20 students responded to Cross’s invitation to WeAct.
“The next year it was 28, then 32, and when I walked into the meeting room this September, I went “Oh my gosh” we don’t even fit into the classroom! The numbers are huge.”
Tanner Rowan is in Grade Seven, a returning WeAct volunteer in his second year of participation.
“I liked going to We Day in Winnipeg. And I’m looking forward to We Create Change. Every class has a container for spare change, and the classes compete for the most money. And with the money, we can buy a goat for a family in Africa!”
Tanner’s younger brother Nathan joined WeAct this school year. He’s a hockey player but manages to make time for volunteering.
“I want to help other people because I feel lots of people don’t have the things we do. Maybe they don’t have parents, don’t live in homes.”
Cross struggles to define why this generation is so engaged in volunteerism and social change.
“A lot of service clubs like the Virden Elks have died out because my generation didn’t carry on with that. But I see the kids coming up now want to do stuff. I don’t know where that’s coming from. It’s weird.”
Weird maybe, but also wonderful to hear siblings like Lily and James Flannery, both WeAct members, enjoying the same activities together even though they’re two years apart.
“It makes me feel proud that we’re doing something together, me and him, it gives us something to bond over,” says Lily.
“It makes me feel ready for being a grown up.”
