February 10, 2012 by Jennifer and Karen
The Have a Heart for CANFAR team has just returned from their visit to Northern Secondary School where Juno award-winning artist Keshia Chanté helped us kick off the 2012 Have a Heart for CANFAR campaign!
It was quite a whirlwind day! The morning started off with a visit to the Northern music class, where several students had written meaningful songs about social activism and how it tied into the importance of HIV & AIDS awareness. They performed their fantastic songs for Keshia, the Have a Heart for CANFAR team and the rest of the class.
To wrap up the class, there was a great question and answer period, led by Keshia herself. The Northern students asked Keshia questions about her involvement as the National Youth Ambassador of CANFAR, about the Have a Heart for CANFAR campaign, and why she had decided to become involved in this worthy cause. The students also questioned Keshia about her experiences in the music industry, and how she has used her successes to teach Canadian students the importance of HIV prevention. Keshia answered the questions with enthusiasm – encouraging student engagement and involvement in CANFAR’s youth-based campaign.
As the bell rang for lunch hour, the auditorium quickly filled with other Northern. Hundreds lined up to buy ‘heart-o-grams’ and take pictures with Keshia Chanté. One music class student even asked to have her guitar signed by Keshia! Surrounded by media and adoring fans, Keshia did a fantastic job of focusing all of the hype back towards the cause.
After such a successful kick-off campaign at Northern Secondary School, the Have a Heart for CANFAR team is very excited to see what the 2,500 other schools across the country will be doing for Have a Heart week. Let’s make Have a Heart for CANFAR 2012 our best campaign yet! Please visit our Facebook page to share photos and stories about your school’s campaign.
What a fantastic way to kick off the 2012 campaign!
WOW! Way to go NORTHERN! You guys did an amazing job!!