Orange Shirt Day: communities coming together in a spirit of reconciliation and hope because every child matters

posted Sep 20, 2018, 3:59 PM by Leah Ashford [ updated Sep 20, 2018, 4:40 PM ]

Orange Shirt Day will be on Monday at Fernwood School.

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, B.C.,Canada, in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis' Story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.

Embracing First Peoples' principles of learning and culture is one of our guiding values at Fernwood School. We strive to incorporate these into our daily and weekly routines to enhance the learning of all students, and especially our students of indigenous ancestry.

Currently all of our classes are learning about the legacy of residential schools in BC and the meaning behind Orange Shirt Day. We will be honouring Orange Shirt Day at our Whole School Meeting (Monday). We are asking that students and staff members wear an orange shirt on Monday. Following the Whole School meeting, students will gather in mixed grade groupings to listen to and discuss age appropriate books chosen by their Teacher. Orange Shirt Day activities will continue on Tuesday, when Quentin Harris will be at Fernwood School. Students and staff are welcome to wear their orange shirt on this second day as well. We will be drawing names for Orange Shirt Day t-shirts and bracelets to help students get into the spirit of the day. For more information and to view the video "Phyllis Webstad Orange Shirt Day Presentation", please see: http://www.orangeshirtday.org/.

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