Local students are participating in Orange Shirt Day. The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) and Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario (CDSBEO) are asking students to wear orange on Monday.
UCDSB Director of Education Stephen Sliwa says Orange Shirt Day commemorates residential school survivors. He says it all started with a person named Phyllis Webstad, who was sent to a residential school by her family.
On the first day, she wore an orange shirt and was told to change into a uniform. Sliwa says the school changed her culture and the way she understood the world.
Orange Shirt Day focuses on Truth and Reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people across the country. Sliwa says Orange Shirt Day has become a key symbolic way for all Canadians to connect with Truth and Reconciliation.