The grades 5 and 6 students at Davidson School are “excited about pretty much everything” concerning their trip to We Day in Saskatoon later this month, but pop rock band Hedley seems to be the big draw.

“More students want to go than we are able to take, but we are fortunate to be able to include so many by registering early and by showing commitment right from the start,” said Davidson School Grade 5 teacher Paul Stinson, noting 43 kids from the school will be heading to the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon Feb. 27 for the celebration of youth volunteerism.

“I expect this to be an inspiring experience and that the students will be bringing ideas and enthusiasm back with them from the event. Hopefully this will be a recurring event and there will be more opportunities next year for more students to participate.”

The first We Day in Saskatchewan will welcome 15,000 young people from schools across the province for a day of motivational speaking by celebrities and activists Martin Sheen, Mia Farrow and Free the Children founders Craig and Marc Kielburger as well as a concert by Hedley among other presentations.

“Hedley’s awesome,” said Grade 5 student Jesse Palmer. “I’ve never seen him before and that will be cool.”

Tickets to We Day are not sold and are only given to deserving young people who commit one act of local and one of global change for the betterment of others.

Grade 6 student Josh Warkentin said his class got tickets though their work on a toy sale they organized with the money raised going to help the less fortunate in Haiti and by working in a community garden.

Jordan Matheson, a Grade 5 student at Davidson School, said they earned their tickets to We Day by participating in Free The Children’s “Pennies for Change” initiative, which raised funds for clean water improvements in third-world countries, and building a community garden inside their classroom.

Stinson said the student’s dedication to improving the lives of others both locally and globally is nothing new for these kids as they do this every year. He said they learn about local and global issues through classes such as art and social studies and have worked on many different projects throughout the years that “show leadership and benefit others,” which makes him extremely proud of his students.

“It’s so easy to take things for granted or to focus on trivial problems,” he said. “I see classroom dynamics, how students treat each other and their willingness to work together to take action to improve things as a parallel to society as a whole. It makes me hopeful.”