GUELPH – More than 5,000 students from the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) gathered at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph on May 8 for the 2025 Empowerment Day celebration.
It is a student-driven event that looks to inspire youth through stories of perseverance, leadership and passion.
The event ran from 10am to 2pm and featured a lineup of guest speakers who enforced this year’s theme of “pushing beyond.”
Blake Fly
Nine-time TEDX speaker and Ontario resident Blake Fly shared relationship building techniques and advice, touching on themes such as confidence, authenticity, sharing one’s passions and friendship.
“It’s kind of weird, but your current best friend, once upon a time, was a glance in a hallway, or a playground or a sandbox,” Fly told the audience.
Fly encouraged students to “put themselves out there” and to “look up from their phones” to engage with those around them.
Fly told the story of his first day of high school and his first day of college. He spoke of making new friends and supporting the passions and dreams of those around you.
He spoke of his high school best friend Malon, who he said was obsessed with the Z103.5 Toronto radio station.
“He was obsessed with it,” said Fly. “Malon was convinced that he could win tickets to concerts, Malon was convinced that he could somehow be part of Z103.5 because he wanted to be on the radio some day.”
Together the friends decided to hatch a plan to make their school’s morning announcements more interesting by producing their own announcements for school events.
“I started to go to his home after school each day and we would work on some announcements,” said Fly. “We are here to talk about the impact you can have on other people.”
In the end, Malon got his wish and currently works at Z103.5 in Toronto.
“If you combine your passion with even one of your people who supports you, celebrates you, who gets you,” said Fly “the things you can create on a small scale and maybe even a bigger one will make the time you spend as a student not only more meaningful but far more memorable.”
Fly also told the story of moving into his college dorm and using his guitar (that he barely could play) as a way of making new friends and putting himself out there.
George Kourounis
Storm chaser and global explorer George Kourounis shared stories from his unique career. He touched on themes such as overcoming fear/using fear as a tool, curiosity, and he encouraged students to “be the first to do something.”
From descending into volcanoes to chasing hurricanes and tornados, Kourounis has travelled the world documenting natural disasters.
“I’m not telling you all of these things to impress you,” said Kourounis.
“I’m telling you to impress upon you how much effort and what goes into this, and you can have amazing careers that you never thought possible.”
The explorer was also the topic of the TV series Angry Planet and was featured on the National Geographic show Die Trying, where he performed an exhibition no one before him had dared to complete.
“One of the most important things that I’ve learned over the years is that if you want things that you’ve never had, you have to be willing to do things you’ve never done,” said Kourounis.
The explorer travelled to Turkmenistan with a team of scientists and the film crew for National Geographic and lowered himself into the “door to hell,” a burning natural gas hole that arrived as the result of a collapsed mining operation for natural gas.
The gas was lit on fire to prevent it from spreading in 1971 and has been burning steadily ever since.
“My mission was to go there and study this crater,” said Kourounis.
“There are career paths out there, just dream big, do things you’ve never done before and remember sometimes it’s better to be first than best.”
Chris Koch
Born without arms and legs, Chris Koch spoke to the crowd about perseverance, humour, mental toughness and his experiences being different from others.
Despite those differences, Koch has lived a full and exciting life, from swimming with sharks and running marathons to snowboarding, skateboarding and working on farms.
“Every single person in this room is capable of doing some pretty awesome and amazing things,” said Koch.
“It has nothing to do with arms and legs, It has nothing to do with physical ability and has everything to do with what’s up here,” he added, referring to his head.
Koch also told the audience that “laughter is the best medicine” and urged students not to take life too seriously and maintain a light and positive mindset.
“Do whatever you need to do to make yourself happy,” said Koch. “Don’t be afraid about failure, don’t be afraid of those kind of things.”
More than 5,000 students attended the event. Photo by Ellouise Thompson
Dwayne Morgan
Called “The Godfather” of Canadian Spoken Word poetry, Dwayne Morgan is the producer of the Toronto International Poetry Slam and a recipient of the Order of Ontario.
Morgan spoke to students about empowering women, taking an active role in one’s life and the importance of self love.
The self-proclaimed “Girl dad” began his speech with a poem about raising strong women and holding boys accountable.
“I’m a girl dad, and one of the greatest beneficiaries of that is my daughter and young women,” said Morgan.
He told students to imagine that life is a basketball game, and urged them to get involved in the game instead of sitting in the stands.
“We wake up in the morning, we put our nice uniforms on and then we get on Snapchat, Tiktok, Instagram,” said Morgan.
“The game of life is happening and we aren’t even in the game because we are so concerned with what is happening with the lives of people who don’t matter and people who are going to have no actual impact on your life.”
Morgan stressed the importance of choosing oneself and urged students to “fall in love with themselves”
“The people who are willing to choose themselves will always be fewer than the people who choose to watch, because watching is easy,” said Morgan. “Watching requires absolutely no effort.”
He added, “I want you to fall deeply, consciously, magically in love with yourself. It is the greatest love affair you are ever going to experience in your lifetime.”
Morgan concluded with a piece of poetry aimed at empowering young women and left the audience with one final quote.
“Give up your seat in the stands and get present in your life.”
Christine Sinclair
Born in British Columbia, soccer icon Christine Sinclair, who has scored more international goals than any other person in soccer, took a different approach than the other speakers.
She opted for an interview-style segment hosted by three county students.
The athlete was asked about her family and those who supported her throughout her career, as well as what challenges she may have faced during her time in the sport.
“The people that supported me the most, I have to say my parents, as cheesy as that sounds,” said Sinclair. “They always just wanted to make sure I was happy and enjoying myself.”
Sinclair told students the hardest thing she had to overcome as a female athlete was “all the people who said no.”
“A lot of people in my life told me no, told me, ‘when are you going to get a real job?’” said Sinclair.
The student interviewers asked Sinclair what she considered the most important character trait in a teammate.
“The best teammates are the ones that are welcoming, they are the ones that work hard and they’re the ones that put the team first,” she said.
The soccer star stressed the importance of “leaving your ego at the door” and working corroboratively with those on your team.
Sinclair also spoke about encouraging women to play sports professionally and the need to break down barriers to allow girls to access the same opportunities as male athletes.
Throughout the Empowerment Day event, homage was paid to event sponsors Skyline, SHSM (specialists high skills major) program, Optimists, Kat Florence, Red Car Service, Fergus Elora Rotary Club, Fergus Legion, RLB, TD Bank, Grand River Agricultural Society, Aypa Power, as well as many private donations.
