Media Alert: The Jonas Brothers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Bridgit Mendler, Queen Noor of Jordan, Minnesota Vikings and Barbara Pierce Bush take the stage today for We Day Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today international charity and educational partner, Free The Children, along with Title Sponsors Cheerios, Green Giant and Yoplait, will bring together iconic speakers and chart-topping musical sensations including the Jonas Brothers, Carly Rae Jepsen, Fifth Harmony, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Mia Farrow, Barbara Pierce Bush, Martin Luther King III, NFL players from the Minnesota Vikings and international activists and Free The Children co-founders, Craig and Marc Kielburger, at We Day Minnesota to educate, engage and empower 18,000 student leaders to change the world.

Bridgit Mendler, platinum selling artist and star of Disney's Good Luck Charlie will team up with Disney® Channel actress and musician, Debby Ryan, and E! News correspondent and Free The Children ambassador, Jesse Giddings, to lead the crowd through a day full of educational speeches, inspirational moments and show-stopping performances. A few of the must-see moments will include:

• A hip-hop/contemporary performance featuring Shape Shift dancers, dancing to a mash-up of Love Me Again by John Newman with voiceover excerpts from the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. This compilation will close with Dr. Luther King Jr's eldest son, Martin Luther King III, speaking about the importance of education and his involvement in a global movement for change.
• GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-platinum artists, The Jonas Brothers, perform their hit single Pom Poms, followed by Joe Jonas addressing the crowd about his recent trip to Kenya and first-hand experience understanding the importance of education to children who are often denied access. Joe has challenged his fans to help raise money to build two schools in Kenya, to support Free The Children's Year of Education, a year-long fundraising commitment to build 200 new schools in Free The Children's overseas communities (more details available www.freethechildren.com/schools).
• State Champions, Rosemount High School Marching Band, will pump up the crowd with a drum line performance of Can't Hold Us leading into in a special segment with Minnesota Viking players, Blair Walsh, Phil Loadholt, Jamarca Sanford and Jerome Simpson and local hometown hero, Jack Jablonski, who will thank the students for their support on and off the field and pay a special Vikings tribute to their incredible accomplishments.
• Governor of Minnesota, Mark Dayton, will issue a proclamation, officially declaring October 8, We Day, across Minnesota. On this day, communities across the state will unite to support and encourage young people in their efforts to make Minnesota and the world a better place.

Throughout the day students and supporters in attendance and those watching online will be inspired by renowned speakers and award-winning performers, including:

• Mark Dayton (@GovMarkDayton) – Governor of Minnesota
• Brenda Cassellius (@BCassellius) – Commissioner of Education, Minnesota
• Chris Coleman (@mayorcoleman) – Mayor of St. Paul
• Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan (@QueenNoor)
• Jonas Brothers (@jonasbrothers) – GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-platinum artists
• Carly Rae Jepsen (@carlyraejepsen) – GRAMMY®-nominated, multi-platinum singer-songwriter
• Fifth Harmony (@FifthHarmony) – America's first teen girl group
• Debby Ryan (@DebbyRyan) – Disney® Channel actress and musician
• Bridgit Mendler (@bridgitmendler) – Platinum selling artist and star of Disney's Good Luck Charlie
• Barbara Pierce Bush – Humanitarian, Co-founder and President, Global Health Corps and daughter of Former US President George W. Bush
• Jesse Giddings (@JesseGiddings) – E! News correspondent and Free The Children ambassador
• Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) – Award-winning singer-songwriter and Free The Children ambassador, joining with a special video message
• Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) – NFL players Blair Walsh, Phil Loadholt, Jamarca Sanford and Jerome Simpson
• Martin Luther King III – Human Rights advocate and eldest son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) – Award-winning actress, activist and United Nations ambassador
• The Tenors (@TenorsMusic) – Juno Award-winning, multi-platinum singers (performance with special guests Young Stitch and Kelly Levesque)
• Katie Garfield (@KatieGarfield) – Singer-songwriter and actress
• Dessa (@dessadarling) – Doomtree Records recording artist, rapper, singer, poet, and essayist
• Jack Jablonski (@Jabs_13) – Local Benilde – St. Margaret's teen who suffered a spinal cord injury during a hockey game
• Michelle Bergh – Miss Minnesota Pre-Teen
• We Day Minnesota co-chairs and siblings Hutton Phillips and Dean Phillips, who also serves as Chairman of Talenti Gelato and Co-Chair of the Phillips Family Foundation
• Kenyan Boys Choir (@BoysChoirKenya) – Traditional African male choir, who sang at the 2009 inauguration of President Obama
• Marissa Mohammed – Youth speaker from the Banyan Community Center
• Native Pride Arts – Indigenous youth performers whose mission is to educate, inspire, motivate and empower diverse communities
• Craig and Marc Kielburger (@craigkielburger) – International activists and co-founders of Free The Children
• Spencer West (@spencer2thewest) – Me to We inspirational speaker, Free The Children ambassador, author and double amputee who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on his hands and in his wheelchair in June 2012
• Molly Burke (@mollymetowe) – Visually impaired Me to We motivational speaker who speaks out against bullying and the power of hope
• Youth speakers, Siddharth Paari and Hannah Alper
• Robin Wiszowaty (@robininkenya) – Me to We motivational speaker, author and Free The Children Program Director in Ghana and Kenya
• Chris Tse – Me to We inspirational speaker, national spoken word champion and humanitarian

We Day is a stadium-sized educational event and a movement of young people leading change. Students can't buy a ticket to We Day, they earn it through service; by making a commitment to take action on at least one local and one global initiative of their choice as part of the year-long educational program called We Act.
The We Act program supports students and teachers with free educational resources, student-led campaigns and support materials to help turn the inspiration from We Day into sustained activation. The program enhances a school's existing service learning initiatives or sparks new ones. Since 2007, youth involved in the We Act program have raised $37 million for over 1,000 local and global causes and logged more than 9.6 million volunteer hours.

We Day and the We Act program are free of charge to the thousands of students and teachers in attendance at the event and state-wide, thanks to the generous support of sponsors led in Minnesota by Title Sponsors Cheerios, Green Giant and Yoplait along with other supporters, including Bremer Bank, the Otto Bremer Foundation, The Edward J. Phillips Family Foundation and the Carlson Family Foundation.

Stay connected:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/weday  
• Twitter: @craigkielburger @weday @freethechildren #WeDay #Minnesota
• Visit: www.weday.com   

For more information, please contact:
Angie Gurley
Director, PR & Publicity
416-432-9291
[email protected]

SOURCE Free The Children

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