Students at Cataline Elementary in Williams Lake came together in a school-wide friendship dance on Wednesday, Feb. 26 to mark Pink Shirt Day.
From Kindergarten to Grade 6, students of all kinds flashed their pink shirts which read ‘be kind to your mind,’ ‘kind is cool’ or ‘you can sit with us’ as they made their way to the school’s gymnasium for an anti-bullying assembly.
“Be an upstander, wear your pink shirt to show you stand up against bullying,” said Vice-Principal Mrs. Tess Riley after reviewing the history of Pink Shirt Day with her students. She talked about the common signs and proper responses to bullying, encouraging students to speak up and turn to a trusted adult when they see something is wrong.
“If you see something, say something – that's the only way it gets better,” Riley said, reminding students to carry on the message every day, not just on Pink Shirt Day.
Mrs. Marnie Howell, who teaches Grades 1 and 2 and is a member of Xatśūll First Nation, then organized a school-wide friendship dance which she said she loved doing growing up as it’s an opportunity for everyone to participate.
“It’s a time for us...to get to know each other, and to acknowledge each other’s presence in a respectful way,” Howell explained.
The students then gathered in a great big circle around the gym, taking a step to the side at each beat of the drum, and greeted each other with a friendly handshake as they progressed around the circle.
There were lots of smiles and some giggles as the students made their way through the circle with Howell and Ms. Sonya Charley both leading with their drums.
Pink Shirt Day began in 2007 when a group of students at a school in Nova Scotia showed their support for a fellow Grade 9 boy who was being bullied for wearing pink. Since then, schools across Canada have proudly joined the movement against bullying by wearing pink shirts on the last Wednesday of February every year.
