Elementary students vow to ‘do the unthinkable’

It was unthinkable at one time: A woman and a black man vying for the presidency.

Fifth-grader Kyle Hawk said he wonders what Martin Luther King Jr. would think of the slate of candidates for the 2008 presidential race.

“Do the unthinkable … change the world” was the theme of Friday’s 23rd annual Human Rights Celebration at North Idaho College.

Students from each of the 14 elementary schools in Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene vowed to change the world in their own small – and some really big – ways.

Hawk, who attends Hayden Meadows, said he could do that by “being a risk-taker and being open-minded.”

Two said they wanted to become doctors and cure cancer.

Several addressed hunger.

“I can do the unthinkable and change the world by giving food and money to kids in Africa who aren’t as lucky as kids in America,” said Benjamin Crotinger, of Ponderosa Elementary.

Students talked of overcoming disabilities and doing what they can to support people who face all sorts of challenges.

Many were inspired by speaker Scott Rigsby, the first double amputee to finish the Ironman triathlon.

Rigsby spent the week visiting fifth-graders at each of the schools and spoke again to the crowd of 1,250 students who gathered at NIC.

He encouraged students to have a dream.

Rigsby lost both legs in a 2005 accident. It was, he said, the worst time of his life.

“I said, ‘God, if you open up the doors for me, I’ll run through them,’ ” Rigsby said. He surrounded himself with good people, kept his faith and worked hard.

“Expect hardships, expect challenges, expect struggles,” he told the students. “Nothing worthwhile comes without hard work.”

Friday’s assembly was the 23rd year fifth-grade students have gathered at NIC to celebrate human rights.

Some children are the second generation to have gone through the program. Organizer Tony Stewart said 27,000 students have participated over the years.

“This is the answer to human rights,” Stewart said. “Through education.”