Today is Orange Shirt Day

Please join us today by wearing an orange shirt to recognize the survivors of residential schools and to show a collective commitment that every child matters.

Deneen H., a Grade 8 student at St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School, will be a symbol for this year’s Orange Shirt Day. Here is Deneen Hawryszko’s explanation of her artwork:

“Originally I wanted the child to be looking at their ancestors, as Indigenous people go through generational trauma from the residential schools, colonization and mass murder of their people and culture. Though since there was a chance of it being on a shirt I reconsidered and did some more research. I found the bear was a sign of strength and the symbol inside of it represented protection. The circle the bear is inside also is a symbol of the moon, which represents many things like protection and grandmother moon, who is the leader of feminine life, which is a nod to the missing and murdered indigenous women today.”