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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 15 ,2 01 8 | 54 1276 Cornwall Road, Unit C, Oakville Ontario, L6J 7W5 T: 905-845-0767 • F: 905-845-5552 •www.haxelllaw.com • lawyers@haxelllaw.com Personal Professional Service at Competitive Rates Buying? Selling? Re Call us for a quote at 905-845-0767 ext. 223Jameson Glas GOLDGOGOGOGOGOGOGOLDLDLDLDLD 905-845-0767 ext. 223Jameson Glas Bid Now Bid Now forBiG SAViNGS at www.Rotaryonlineauction.ca Help Yourself with Big Discounts & Help Us Help Others Bid NOW Bid NOW Bid NOW at www.Rotaryonlineauction.ca November 3-17, 2018 THank YOU to the following Rotary supporters: Glen Oaks Funeral Home 905-257-8822 Maple Grove Chiropractic 905-338-3732 Minuteman Press 905-822-1110, Ron Salem CPa., CMa. 905-330-1965 TE LL YO UR FR iEN dS Some 1,350 elementary school-aged children might just wake up tomorrow and be a little kinder to one another, and them- selves.That's one goal of Tues- day's Stand Up Revolution Lead- ership Conference, held at The Meeting House in Oakville. Inspiring students to pursue leadership and to understand how to deal with bullying effec- tively, the conference is an exten- sion of founder Scott Graham's passion for helping children. He believes that every student can become a leader. To that end, the conference brought in musicians, magicians, entertainers, television person- alities and leaders to share mes- sages with the youngsters, in- cluding students in Grades 5 to 8 from Burlington, Milton and Oakville schools. Their messages were similar: use music to get you through tough times; talk about being dif- ferent; bullies are the ones with the problem, not the person being bullied; discover who you're meant to be; focus less on the small picture and more on the big picture; we don't need to struggle in solitude; don't feel over- whelmed; and let people see your struggles. Shane Kippel, a Canadian ac- tor best known for his role on De- grassi: The Next Generation, told students he's weird. "Ya, I'm weird," he said. "When did weird become a bad thing? It's what makes you special it's what makes you stand out. "I owe everything in my life to being weird." After he quit acting to pursue a music career, he learned that things don't always work out. He spent many years pursuing that dream of being a musician. Later, he realized it wasn't meant to be, but again, he used that as a learn- ing experience and moved for- ward with even more confidence. The punk rock band The Penske File, from Burlington - made up of Travis Miles on vo- cals, Alex Sanden on drums and James Hall on bass - got most of the large crowd on their feet and jumping to their heart-pounding rhythms. Miles shared that spending time with his fellow musicians has resulted in some of the best experiences of his life. "Music can be some of the fun- niest times in your life, and it can get you through some stuff too," he said. "Be kind to one another; you may forget that, but it's the kind- ness you give to others that you also get back," said MC Nathan McLeod, who was an actor in the Canadian teen television series Life With Boys. "Wake up and be more kind tomorrow than you were today." Meanwhile, Raoul Juneja out- lined his experiences as a "brown child" growing up in New York and then moving to Melbourne, Australia, where he experienced devastating racism. They watched The Jungle Book in Grade 2, and he said that his teacher told him he didn't need to eat lunch - he could eat some bananas out of the jungle. Eventually he moved back to Canada and found out that he wasn't popular again. This time, he was called "American Boy." When an American girl came to his school and he became pop- ular for dancing with her, that didn't work out either. School- mates spread false rumours about him and the girl never danced with him - or spoke to him - again. But one thing never let him down - his music. At the time, he was listening to rap music. "Music made me feel good about things," he said. "I made it a point to pay attention to artists, reading newspapers or listening to radio - I found a whole different world out there beyond what I was living," he said. That ended up with him being introduced to comedian Russell Peters. "He knew he was different and used that to do something differ- ent," he said, adding that the rest is history. Juneja is now a television per- sonality, producer and speaker. He's produced music compila- tions for Barack Obama and the United Nations. "Now I'm getting invited to the United Nations, and brushed shoulders with celebrities and politicians around the world. "Being different has made me be on the cover of magazines around the world," he said. "I feel badly for the people who hurt me; I knew I wasn't the one with the problem. You'll come across these people in college and uni- versity and in the workplace. But I wasn't the one with the prob- lem." "Use that to your advantage. Who are you meant to be?" Magician Mark Correia wowed students by escaping from a straitjacket. His message was simply: don't focus so much on one thing that you'll miss the magic moments right in front of you. "Find the big perspective ... find the big moments." HELPING STUDENTS STAND UP, BE THEMSELVES, BE KIND TO ALL Magician Scott Hammell speaks about diversions during the Kids4Kids Courage Stand up to Bullying Conference at the Meeting House this afternoon. Nikki Wesley/Metroland JULIE SLACK jslack@metroland.com COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP, ANTI-BULLYING CONFERENCE ENLIGHTENS YOUNG STUDENTS "When did weird become a bad thing? It's what makes you special it's what makes you stand out. I owe everything in my life to being weird." - Shane Kippel, Canadian actor