On Wednesday, April 12th students at my school (along with many other students and staff in our board) celebrated the “International Day of Pink”. This day is different from “Pink Shirt Day” which was celebrated earlier in the year in February. The International Day of Pink is a day to stand up against bullying, especially against members from the 2SLGBTQ+ community. “We believe when we wear pink on Day of Pink April 12th, 2023, we join the stance in having the courage to be yourself, to be kind, and so much more.” (https://www.dayofpink.org/en/home-2023)

This year’s theme was “Courage” so when planning for our school’s event, we talked about how can we embrace this theme in our school-wide activity day. As we started to plan, staff members mentioned that we should speak to our 2SLGBTQ+ positive space group first to get their ideas. They suggested poetry activities and other great ideas to be included in our day. Students from different classes in our school made posters, announcements and video advertisements about the day to get conversations started in classes about the meaning behind the day. Some videos included:

• Students saying the Pink Day Pledge Pledge
• Members of a school sports team sharing about times that they had shown courage
• A video of 13 Trans and Queer Canadians that everyone should know Featured Canadians

These videos prepared students for activities that will be listed below that took place on the event day.

On the day of April 12th, teachers and students came together to prepare for the gym for a day of education and fun. Our stations were planned by a Committee of nine staff members who thought about activities that would be beneficial, educational and fun for students K-8. Each station was led by grade 7/8 student leaders. These students gathered together before hand to learn about what each station had to offer. I hope that you can use these acitivies next year as they all went off without a hitch and were loved by all.

International Day of Pink Activities

Colouring with Pride

Students used their prior learning from our video and were able to select a colouring sheet to colour about one of the 13 featured Trans and Queer Canadians. Link to this colouring book can be found above.

Photo Walkway

Students could wear some Pride related glasses, hats or pink items and take a walk down the rainbow/pink walkway. The walkway had a rainbow balloon arch around it so that students felt excited to walk down. It was great seeing students pose for photos with their friends. We will be making an iMovie of all the photos to send to teachers to show their students.

Poetry Station

Students could write poems while enjoying some quality time with their peers. We had pink cushions to sit on and a lava lamp for mood lighting. I was very excited to read a poem afterwards from one of my students who was proud to share what he had written. He was also one of the students who had come up with the idea for the station.

Pink Day Pledge

We had a station where students could read the International Day of Pink Pledge (which they had heard in their prior learning) and could agree that they would uphold that pledge by putting their finger print on it. We had pink stamp pads which students could use to place their finger on. They then would put their fingerprint on the pledge. We are getting this pledge laminated to hang somewhere in our school! A copy of the pledge can be found above.

Rainbow of Courage

We asked students to write on a sticky note about a time that they had courage. Our students leaders then stuck them on the rainbow. This is now hanging in the front of our school.

Friendship Bracelets

Students could make themselves or a friend a bracelet. One of our staff members thought about a meaning for each bead colour. So students could make the bracelets with meaning.

Positive Affirmations

One of our students had remembered an activity from a past pink day where students have their fortunes told. We changed that up a bit and had students sit with one of our student leaders and were told something positive about themselves. Our students leaders created 12 different positive affirmations and used those. This was a very popular part of our event as students went four or five times to hear a positive message.

Those were all of the acitivites we featured this year. We hope to think of more for next year as we heard from all students and staff that the students loved them all. We know that we educated our school community about the importance of being courageous to be yourself and to be kind to others. What did you do for Pink day this year?