Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event.\u00a0It grew out of a young girl named Phyllis (Jack) Webstad having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually. The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools.<\/p>\n
Orange Shirt Day\u00a0is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Having this be our first Spirit Day at Allenby\u00a0<\/strong>provides an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year.\u00a0We encourage everyone to wear orange next Friday, September 28<\/strong>. Don\u2019t have a shirt? Don\u2019t worry, just try to wear some orange (e.g., orange sign, ribbon).<\/p>\n The TDSB will mark Orange Shirt Day on Friday, September 28<\/strong>. On this day, “students and staff across the TDSB will come together and wear Orange Shirts to recognize the harm that the Residential School System did to First Nations, M\u00e9tis and Inuit children and to recognize that every child matters.”<\/em><\/p>\n