Kootenay Lake students celebrate Orange Shirt Day by coming together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope. The students were encouraged to wear orange and participate in writing positive thoughts of reconciliation on cut outs of Orange Shirts.
Students spent the day attending assemblies where they enjoyed story-telling by elders and participated in drumming and song to highlight related projects such as Project Heart.
Orange Shirt Day grew out of the personal story of Phyliss Webstad. Phyliss had her orange shirt taken away from her on her first day of school at St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school. Her experience just like many other First Nations children was not a happy one.
Orange Shirt Day has given many of the survivors of residential school and their families an opportunity to keep alive the discussion and healing around residential schools.