Tessa Foley and Jack Fryer, students at Davidson Creek Elementary, hold up a pink shirt that features student designs inspired by Pink Shirt Day and the school’s motto: A place where we belong.

Sherwood Park, AB. — Today, students and staff throughout Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) are donning pink shirts and delving into what kindness means to them to celebrate this year’s Pink Shirt Day. “Kindness means helping everybody in the world,” says Jack Fryer, a Grade 1 student at Davidson Creek Elementary and presenter at the school’s Kindness Assembly. “Never being a bully—and everybody gets to help. It spreads. When you’re kind, it spreads. When you’re kind to someone, they’re kind back to you. There are so many people who have been kind to me.”

Prior to the day, Davidson Creek’s school council sponsored a pink shirt design contest for students in kindergarten to Grade 6. Students were given a template in the shape of half a heart and asked to create a design that exemplifies kindness and reflects the school’s motto: A place where we belong. Each class selected a winning design that was submitted to the school’s parent committee. The committee chose one winning design from K-3 and another from grades 4-6—both designs were then scanned and printed onto pink shirts that students and families could purchase.

Tessa Foley, a Grade 5 student at the school, had the winning design for grades 4-6.  “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. It’s like two hands are two different personalities that come together to help stand up for people who are being bullied.”

Launched in 2007, the Pink Shirt Day movement started after two high school students in Nova Scotia witnessed a younger student being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. The next day, they brought 50 pink t-shirts to school and encouraged classmates to wear them to take a stand against bullying. The concept took hold. Today, Pink Shirt Day is celebrated in schools and workplaces countrywide and has raised more than $2.81 million for healthy relationship programming across Western Canada.

“We celebrate Pink Shirt Day every year to promote healthy relationships, bullying prevention, and compassion and empathy,” says Cathy Allen, the Board Chair of EIPS. “It’s a movement that was started by students for students. When we’re kind and welcoming to one another, we make a school more than a building—it becomes a place to explore your passions, succeed in your studies and build lasting connections.”

Schools have various activities planned—all focused on spreading kindness, embracing differences, working together and supporting each other. Some of this year’s activities include assemblies, announcements, presentations, t-shirt contests, bulletin-board displays, book readings, lessons plans and more. EIPS schools also have ongoing projects and initiatives in place, geared toward kindness and building healthy relationships. Some examples include the Seven Sacred Teachings, Random Acts of Kindness, The Fourth R, Bucket Fillers, Leader in Me and various community-service programs. You can view activities from individual schools across the Division on the EIPS website.

In addition to wearing pink and school activities, EIPS students and staff are also showing their support for Pink Shirt Day by posting messages about the importance of empathy and kindness on various social media platforms using the hashtag #PinkShirtDay.

Elk Island Public Schools is one of Alberta’s largest school divisions, serving approximately 17,750 students in 42 schools. We are proud to be an integral part of our communities, including Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Vegreville, Strathcona and Lamont counties, and the western portion of the County of Minburn.

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Pink Shirt Day Alberta
Pink Shirt Day

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For more information, media can contact:
Laura McNabb, Director, Communication Services, EIPS 780-417-8204 cell 780-405-4902