With Orange Shirt Day and the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, school communities throughout the District are coming together in many ways to build understanding and awareness.
There will be no school on the new statutory day on September 30. In recognition of National Truth and Reconciliation Day and the entire week, flags at schools and all District sites will be lowered to half mast from Monday, September 27 through and including Friday, October 1.
During the week, our school is recognizing Orange Shirt Day, which originated nearly a decade ago as a way to commemorate “Phyllis’ story.” As a young girl, Phyllis had her orange shirt taken away on her first day at a residential school in Mission, BC. Wearing orange is one of the visible ways school communities in the District honour those who attended residential schools, acknowledge what was taken away and reinforce that every child matters.
While Orange Shirt Day and the new National Day for Truth and Reconciliation provide an opportunity to ground the start of the school year in our shared history and develop a common understanding, Indigenous principles of learning are also integral day-to-day, as we move forward together in an ongoing journey of reconciliation.
