Dr. Knox Middle School commemorated Pink Shirt Day by hosting a bright pink carnival.
The Leadership students and staff organized the festivities that included games in the gymnasium, cupcakes in the lobby and a pink lemonade stand.
“Wearing pink just shows that no one is left out… and everybody is connected to each other,” said Ryley Binne, a Grade 9 student that is part of the Leadership program.
“These events help everybody make new friends and be closer with each other.”
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The middle school has turned the entire month into a celebration called Fabulous February. Each week has a different focus, the first week is kindness, the second is positivity and the third week is harmony where the students held a international food fair and raised over $750 that was donated to mothers in Uganda. Pink Shirt Day has been turned into a week long celebration at the school.
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“We want to create a sense of belonging, we ran a carnival to help students feel more connected and so that all the grades could hang out together,” said Darcy King, French and Leadership teacher.
“One of the big school goals (is creating a sense of belonging) and if people feel more connected they will have more opportunities to stand up for each other and not be a victim or be an (active) bystander.”
Vice-principal Raelyn Larmet says that the school works hard to counteract bullying by focusing on positivity instead of negativity.
“When kids know it’s important to be kind you don’t see the bullying. We like to focus on positives and not negatives so it’s about building that capacity in kids. Then they can see what kindness looks like, sounds like and feels like,” said Larmet.
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