Orange Shirt Day Across Delta School District

Today, September 30, students and staff across the district, and across the country, are wearing orange shirts to honour the children who survived Residential schools and remember those who didn’t.

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph’s Mission residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake in the spring of 2013. It grew out of one girl, Phyllis Webstad’s, account of having her pretty orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission.

Orange Shirt Day has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of Residential schools happening annually.

As a part of the Orange Shirt Day initiative, Delta students will be learning about and having discussions about Truth and Reconciliation and the history of the residential school system.

Says Delta School Board Chairperson, Laura Dixon, “My fellow trustees and I, along with staff and students, and will wear these shirts on Friday as reminder that every child matters and our ongoing commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.”

The design that is on the t-shirt worn across Delta School District was created by Vincent Morgan, a grade 6 TFN student at Cliff Drive. The DTA and the Delta School District worked collaboratively on this project.