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Five student finalists have been chosen from 665 entries in the 2018 Orange Shirt Day logo contest, and now it’s time to vote online for the winning design.
Student finalists are from Calgary, Whitecourt, Ponoka and Cold Lake and range from Grade 5 to Grade 12.
Orange Shirt Day is a commemoration event that grew out of one former residential school student’s account of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at St. Joseph Mission in B.C. It was originally held in spring 2013 in Williams Lake, B.C.
The orange shirt is meant to symbolize the harm done to residential school students and show a commitment to the principle that every child matters!
A date in September was chosen because it is the time of year when children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year.
“Orange Shirt Day is important because it talks about all the things that were taken away from my people," said Arianna, a Grade 3 student from Kameyosek Elementary School. Orange Shirt Day, she said, “is trying to bring different people together to have reconciliation. It helps to show that we want reconciliation to happen.”
All Albertans are invited to vote for their favourite logo submission by visiting the Safe and Caring Orange Shirt Day web page at http://www.safeandcaring.ca/orangeshirtday. The designs will also be on display at the Edmonton Indigenous Peoples Festival June 19 to June 21 at Victoria Park in Edmonton’s river valley.
Students and the public are invited to the Safe and Caring tipi between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to vote for their favorite design.
The winning logo will be featured during the Orange Shirt Day campaign and on the official 2018 Alberta Orange Shirt Day t-shirt.
“The Orange Shirt Day logo contest is one way we can keep the conversation going, and is just one of many opportunities we have throughout the year to grow our understanding, recognize the harms done to residential students and to demonstrate commitment to participate in the work of reconciliation,” said Leslie Ronaldson, executive director at Safe and Caring.