On Friday, September 30th (tomorrow), some staff members and others in the community will be wearing orange shirts that read, “Every Child Matters.” Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, 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.
The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for discussions about respect, diversity, inclusion, etc. at the start of the school year. Your child may choose to wear something orange tomorrow, to help spread the word that “Every Child Matters.”