Pink Shirt Day Assembly
In our Pink Shirt Day Assembly on February 28th 2018, students and teachers gathered to commemorate an important message: kindness knows no bounds. Pink Shirt Day was founded on the premise of a boy attending his first day of school, followed by being mocked and ridiculed by his peers for wearing a pink shirt. After this, other students, the “bystanders” decided to speak up on his behalf, and use social media to draw attention to supporting this downtrodden student. As a result, many students returned to school the following day wearing pink shirts to lift this student up. The results were staggering, as many students supported one another by wearing pink shirts; forever referred to as the ‘sea of pink.’
The founding principles of Pink Shirt Day is important because children were responsible for making a difference. In our Pink Shirt Day assembly and throughout the day, students symbolized kindness by wearing pink shirts and worked with their parents and teachers to write thoughtful messages to one another on a giant ipad in the foyer.
Mr. Bouchard shared the meaning of bystanders with the audience and invited students to participate in demonstrations reflecting how impactful the actions of a bystander can be. Kindergarten students interviewed one another, with an aim to teach the audience all about ‘Kelso’s Choices,’ which is an array of solutions for encouraging proactive problem solving strategies in children. Kindergarten students also performed skits and showed the rest of the school how they use their words and actions to solve problems with one another. Teachers showcased students work on the projector on how to be a friend along with photos of students working together and solving problems. Our assembly concluded with a poem on ‘How to Be a Pal,’ in which Kindergarten students sang and acted out this poem for the audience.
