| 2009 Winners
Me to We: Challenge Your Style 2009
At Bonnyville Centralized High School we think no challenge
is too big, despite the size of our school and community. In the fall of 2009, one of our
teachers at BCHS read about the “Challenge Your Style” competition that Me to We
was advertising on their website. The
teacher advisor of our school’s social justice organization, HOPE (Helping Our
Peers Everywhere), Mrs. Nathalie Reid, talked to the group and they were
immediately on board. Our school
has been long-time supporters of fair trade and organically grown cotton, and
this was another opportunity for us to promote it.
The students of
HOPE started by selling t-shirts in our student area at lunch time to staff and
students and at home to their family and friends. As the competition was heating up, HOPE held their annual
coffee house and fair trade market. This event is held at the school and is an
opportunity for local community members to come out and see our spectacular bazaar
while supporting fair trade. It is
also a great occasion for the community to find out what our local students are
doing. The students from not only
BCHS but also H.E. Bourgoin School (our middle school) and Duclos School (our
elementary school) assisted HOPE in this fun event. We sold many t-shirts at the Bizarre and spread even more
excitement about Me to We.
Students from BCHS went on the radio, made posters and
continued to spread the word throughout the community that we were close to the
top, our only competition coming from very large city high schools across Canada. We were very fortunate to have schools
across the Lakeland area in Northern Alberta join in to buy some t-shirts from
us. Students also set up a stand
at the local multiplex sports arena on Saturdays for the farmers market and
sold even more t-shirts, while raising awareness about the cause. Our division
office administration continued to support our efforts and came in to buy
shirts as well.
As Christmas approached, we got the best Christmas present:
we won! We spread the news to all
of our supporters and had an assembly at the school where representatives from
Free the Children and Me to We came out to present us with the cheque for $5000. We used some of this money to finish
building our school in Africa and we put the remaining money towards a water
project.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Tania Hogan from
Me to We for encouraging us to be the ‘little school that could’. We also want to thank our teachers, our
administration and the students of BCHS. A huge thanks also goes out to our community of Bonnyville, Alberta
where so many wonderful people supported us and encouraged us along the
way. If you come to visit any one
of Bonnyville’s public schools, you will see students wearing Me to We Style
clothing on any given day. Good
luck to all future participants!
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