Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) had plenty of activities set up for Pink Shirt Day (Feb. 28).
At Davidson Creek Elementary School in Sherwood Park they held a pink shirt design contest for students from kindergarten to Grade 6. Students were given a template and asked to create a design that showed kindness. Each class had a winning design that was submitted to the school’s parent committee.
The committe then chose two winning designs which were scanned and printed onto pink shirts for students and families to buy.
“I chose to draw a picture of held hands because when people hold hands, they trust each other, and they’re not mean to each other,” said Tessa Foley, a Grade 5 student who had the winning design for grades 4-6. “It’s like two hands are two different personalities that come together to help stand up for people who are being bullied.”
There were other activities such as assemblies, book readings, lesson plans, and more.
“We celebrate Pink Shirt Day every year to promote healthy relationships, bullying prevention, and compassion and empathy,” said Cathy Allen, the Board Chair of EIPS.
Pink Shirt Day is an anti-bullying movement that began back in 2007 and has since raised over $2.8 million for healthy relationship programming across western Canada.
