This year, our OPHEA team (teachers and students) planned some events to celebrate the International Day of Pink. Although it fell on April 10th, we moved it to April 19th to not conflict with the celebration of Eid. Teachers could share videos and explore activities in their classroom on Pink Day (April 10th) as well as wearing pink on both days.
We met several times before our event to plan out exciting activities for our students in grade K- 8. Before selecting activities, we browsed the Home (2023) — Intl. Day of Pink website and watched videos, read ways to be involved and explored the themes for the year. This year, there were some key anniversaries to celebrate:
- The 50th Anniversary of the Brunswick Four
- The 25th Anniversary of the Trans Flag
After our planning sessions, we came up with the following activities in the gym for April 19th:
- Photo Booth with Day of Pink back drop
- Colouring with Pride- Coloring pages provided by the day of pink website Colouring with Pride — Intl. Day of Pink
- Visibility Rainbow- writing on a sticky note what it means to be visible
- Face painting- students received a rainbow or heart on their face at the facepaint station
- Pink Day Pledge- students put a thumb print on the pledge to sign their agreement with the pledge DoP_Poster_EN.indd (squarespace.com)
- Positive fortunes- we had some students in the middle of the gym providing positive fortunes to students
- Friendship bracelets- each colour standing for a specific personality trait
The day ran smoothly, starting with a group reading of the pledge and then students could transition between each activity with their classmates. At the end of the day, the OPHEA student leaders cleaned up the gym. The day went well and students had a great time planning and carrying out the event. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year!
