Kindness, compassion, and celebrating our differences. On Wednesday, February 22, students and staff across the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) dawned pink attire for Pink Shirt Day.
The last Wednesday in February is widely known as Pink Shirt Day. First started in 2007 after two Nova Scotia high school students took a stand against bullying when their classmate was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. Since then, it has turned into a global movement for everyone to take a stand against bullying and promote kindness among those around us.
The UCDSB is dedicated to preparing all students for a successful life and ensuring that they feel safe, included, and respected at school. To help support that mission, the district provides year-round awareness, education, and policies to work towards reducing achievement gaps and improving learning outcomes for all students, regardless of class, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and other historical forms of marginalization.
In addition to wearing pink shirts, schools participated in activities to promote kindness, understand the impacts of bullying and become anti-bully advocates, and celebrate each other’s differences. Here’s a glimpse of what some of our schools were up to:
Maynard Public School and Vanier Public School: Students created pink paper t-shirts with messages or commitments to stand up against bullying. Along with a pledge to share kindness each day.
Centennial '67 Public School: The Grade 4/5 and Grade 6 classes created their paper t-shirts with a promise to be kind to others. Primary classes read books about kindness and brainstormed ideas about how we can be kind to others.
Bridgewood Public School: Students participated in a read-aloud of the book ‘Kindness is my Superpower’ and made a promise to be kind.
Sweet's Corners Elementary School: Students discussed how if they all work to lift each other up, the world will be a better place. In the afternoon, the entire school came together to play games.
Brockville Collegiate Institute: Students wrote notes of kindness and posted them in the main hallway for staff and students to read.
Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute welcomed community police officer, Ken Gray, to their Civics and Careers classes.
Russell High School: Students posted paper shirts around the school with messages of kindness.
By celebrating Pink Shirt Day and promoting a culture of kindness and inclusion, we hope to inspire our students to treat each other with empathy, compassion, and respect. We believe these values are essential for creating a positive school environment and for preparing our students to become responsible and caring members of society.