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Students From 'The Mount' Invited To Liberty Medal Ceremony After YouTube Video Goes Viral

By Kim Glovas

FLOURTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Inspired by Malala, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban, a group of Mount Saint Joseph Academy students started a social media campaign to bring her to their school.

It started when the girls read Malala's book, then evolved into a YouTube video, and a social media campaign that went viral.

"We've been using social media to reach the Malala Fund, and then we also gathered one day in July, and we recorded a video, and I put it together," says senior Colleen McBride. "And since then, it has been on YouTube, we posted it on Twitter, on our Facebook page, and we've really reached so many people with that video."

McBride says she and her friends based the video on the larger ideas Malala represents, including education for all, especially women, and gender equality. McBride says the video eventually reached the Malala Fund.

"They reached out to us," she says, "and invited me to be one of the four girls to speak on stage at the Liberty Medal ceremony on (October) 21st."

McBride says she hopes to create a special bond with Malala during the Liberty Bell ceremony at the National Constitution Center. She also wants to continue to use social media to raise awareness about the need for education for everyone.

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