Schools Awash In Pink T-Shirts

By Corey Fischer

Feb 26, 2019 | 1:00 PM

Photo: Vernon RCMP get into the spirit of Pink Shirt Day by adding some new colour to their cruiser (Contributed)

There will be plenty of pink in School District 22 Wednesday.

The annual Pink Shirt Day to take a stand against bullying, will see the District and RCMP team up with local businesses to provide several thousand pink t-shirts for students and staff at six participating schools.

Community supporter, Rob Ellis, from Rellish Transport, was approached by the staff at Harwood Elementary last year, who wanted to provide every student and staff member with a pink shirt in an effort to speak up and stand together against bullying.

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Ellis and other community partners came together to make that happen for Harwood, providing the entire school with pink shirts designed by the students from Karyn Godard’s classroom. The program was so well received, Ellis and the community partners have joined together again to provide shirts for six participating schools within School District 22, totalling over 2,700 t-shirts.

RCMP and the School District are also reminding parents to speak to their children about bullying to ensure they aren’t silent victims.

Pink shirt that will be handed out at six Vernon schools

“It doesn’t matter if the bullying takes place in person, at work or school, online or in the community, it is still bullying and as a province and community we should not tolerate it,” says RCMP Cst. Kelly Brett.

“We don’t stand for bullying of any kind in School District 22,” says Superintendent Joe Rogers. “As a district, our teachers and staff work hard to provide a safe, healthy and respectful learning community for our students, so they are able to build a strong foundation for a bright future. We strive to make our schools safe and inclusive for everyone. The community response to this initiative has been greatly appreciated and together, we are making a tremendous stand against bullying.”

Participating classes have also designed an anti-bullying day poster, where one poster from each school will be chosen as the winner and awarded a pizza party.

by Corey Fischer