Renton High Students Head to 'We Day' to Recognize Community Service

Leadership students at Renton High School are among the 15,000 young people expected at We Day in Seattle on Wednesday for a star-studded program.

The youth-empowerment event is a program by the Canadian-based nonprofit group Free The Children, founded by Craig Kielburger when he was just a kid himself. It is designed to show kids positive approaches to life and ways to set themselves free by helping others.

The event Wednesday, which runs from 9:15 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be streamed live at http://www.weday.com/ starting at 9:15 a.m.

The 15,000 kids who will attend the event--from some 380 schools in more than 100 districts statewide--have already been selected, based on their own service work for both local and global causes. They include students from Renton.

Renton High students have planted trees for Earth Day, worked at birthday parties put on for children living in shelters and organized a pancake breakfast at a local senior centre. Students have collected toys, clothes, food and household items for a variety of local organizations such as the Rays Holiday Breakfast, Toy n’ Joy and the Salvation Army, and supported their local literacy programs by organizing a book drive and making bookshelves so that the books would have a safe place to be stored. In addition to all their local involvement, they have been involved globally with their Humanitarian Aid club, fundraisers to build schools for their peers abroad, and have been involved with Habitat for Humanity.

Students, how do you perform service to your community? Adults, how can we inspire youth to give back to their communities? Tell us in the comments.