ESTEVAN - A week before the annual Pink Shirt Day in Canada, students at St. Mary’s School took a stand against bullying.
Students and staff donned pink shirts and other pink clothing on Feb. 15 to promote kindness and a positive attitude around the school. School counsellor Jasmine Lund said it was part of an anti-bullying and empathy week within the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division.
“We included some escape room booklets for the pre-ks [pre-kindergartens] to Grade 4s and the Grade 5s to Grade 9s, and of course we also handed out some prizes for each student in the school for their hard work with the booklets,” said Lund.
The booklets turned out really well, she said. It was up to each student and staff member on how they would approach completing them. They could do one activity per day during the week, or they could do all of the activities in one day. Students had until Feb. 17 to complete the booklets.
“Each booklet comes with a word that they have to unscramble to complete the booklet,” she said.
Lund believes it’s important to continue to support Pink Shirt Day activities and other anti-bullying initiatives.
“We really want the students and staff to focus on being kind to each other. We obviously strive for kindness every day in our schools, but this week we wanted to bring as much awareness in our schools,” said Lund.
She believes students are getting the message about the importance of kindness. Everyone had such a positive attitude when she went into the classrooms, and the students and staff look forward to anti-bullying week each year.
Other schools in Estevan and throughout southeast Saskatchewan held a Pink Shirt Day last week to say they wouldn’t tolerate bullying. Activities were held early because Pink Shirt Day falls on the final Wednesday of February each year, and the schools are on their annual winter break.
