Orange Shirt Day
Orange Shirt Day is recognized every year on September 30th. It is a sign of communities coming together in a spirit of reconciliation and hope because every child matters.
Wearing an orange shirt is to honour the children who survived the Indian Residential School System and to remember those who did not. Orange was chosen in recognition of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad’s life experience.
Typically in SD83, a district-wide event would be held at a school, and then schools would host their own activities/events as well. This year schools are mainly doing smaller activities within each classroom.
For example at Shuswap Middle School, Indigenous Education Workers (IEWs) Theresa Johnson and Kaeli Hawrys have visited every class to read The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad in preparation for Orange Shirt Day. Students then created artwork on a feather to be part of a school collage. Each class in the school will be watching a 5-minute excerpt of Chanie Wenjack’s story The Secret Path on Orange Shirt day.
Over at Len Wood Middle, they are encouraging all students to wear an orange shirt on Wednesday September 30th! Students will spend some time hearing the Orange Shirt Day story so they understand the meaning behind wearing an orange shirt. They will also watch a video on Truth and Reconciliation to understand our shared residential school history. Finally, students will be invited to choose between two writing prompts, to write about a time they were brave or showed courage to overcome a challenging time in their life.
Events are also being hosted online to commemorate this day, which teachers can join with their classes or people can watch from home. These include: