By Adam Casagoly
During hard times it is important to stand up for what we believe in.
As exams are approaching and the first semester comes to a close, it is important to think about the causes we have helped, and the causes we should support in the future.
Over the past couple of months, the focus of the ND student council has been to support and raise awareness about some of the world’s most difficult situations.
The holiday season can either be lovely or overly stressful and tricky for many to deal with. Arguably one of the most important parts of the holidays is to give to the less fortunate and be thankful for what we have.
This past Christmas, ND’s efforts began with a project to support families within our community who were struggling. ND students in each homeroom brought in everyday essentials such as food, brushes, soaps, and clothing as well as monetary contributions to make the holidays brighter for families.
Another subject that ND feels strongly about is the massacre that is happening in Congo. To raise awareness about this atrocity, ND held a special day called “Colors for Congo”. For the duration of the day, students wore colors of the Congolese flag, made donations and raised awareness on social media.
Thanks to the success of the Congo fundraiser, ND is hoping to host two other fundraisers to support some of the largest humanitarian and environmental issues in the world: The strife in Yemen and the Australian wildfires. Furthermore, this year ND plans to participate in the Relay for Life event. ND is proud to support survivors and victims of cancer.
Furthermore, ND will organize fundraisers to help with the Australian wildfires, Yemen and for cancer research and treatment.
Finally, for the first time, ND has started a debate club. The debate club was created so that students could discuss controversial and interesting topics and situations affecting us as individuals, and the world we live in. One of the debate topics was about whether marijuana should be legalized and how it affects us as students. The debate topics will be geared towards decisions made on a local, national and international level, how we interpret them and how our actions as a result of this decisions influence our future.
In the future ND will continue to stand up against the wrongs in life. The school community will continue to support those in need and improve life for those less fortunate. We will continue to grow and learn through debate, discussion and education.