By Light of Christ Catholic Schools

Every Child Matters

Students Design T-Shirts to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day

Oct 1, 2020 | 10:39 AM

September 30th has become known as “Orange Shirt Day” to honour survivors of Residential Schools and remember those who did not survive.

Residential Schools is a part of Canadian history that requires acknowledgement as we move forward towards reconciliation with the common understanding that “Every Child Matters”.

John Paul II Teacher, Dee-Jaye Stebanuk came up with the idea of creating a contest where students and staff could enter t-shirt designs to commemorate Orange Shirt Day.

They were then voted on with Kayla Chorney-Geering and Libbey Pooyak’s design being selected to don John Paul II’s own orange shirts.

It was through this idea that shirts were ordered for every staff and student to honour this day and John Paul II’s journey as a Following Their Voices school.

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Grey Cup!!!

Everything you wanted and more

Nov 21, 2025

Ferland earns Grey Cup ring

'A wonderful human being': High school coach thrilled Logan Ferland is a Grey Cup champion

Nov 17, 2025

“This is an event that is able to continue what John Paul II believes in, in that every child matters and all of our students matter. At a time when connection is more difficult, this event and what Dee-Jaye created has provided us the opportunity to feel as one…towards a common understanding, acknowledgment, and unlearning and relearning,” says Co-Principal, Tracie Harty.

Libbey Pooyak and Kayla Chorney-Geering chose to do this contest together, as Kayla had the idea behind the hair being cut and Libbey is more artistic.

Both girls feel that the representation of the hair being cut is powerful due to the fact that hair is very important to the First Nations culture. Having that part of a culture taken away from a child is heartbreaking and speaks to the actions taken to remove the culture from the child, according to Pooyak and Chorney-Geering.

Both girls have Restorative as one of their Top 5 Clifton Strengths, which is evident in their desire to identify a problem and work towards finding solutions, consensus, and understanding.

Pooyak says, “People need to understand that it’s not something to get over. It’s a cycle of grief and understanding of generational trauma due to Residential Schools. I am so glad that we are able to have Orange Shirt Day. It provides help and resources so we can work together.”

Chorney-Geering echos her statements, stating, “Orange Shirt Day is a day to recognize that the trauma experienced isn’t something to get over, but to recognize and move forward.”

Stebanuk’s Positivity Clifton Strength became evident when she saw the need for the John Paul II community to express their support and understanding of Orange Shirt Day and all that it emulates in a positive way.

The moral imperative of Following Their Voices is acceptance and education of what has occurred in the past and working towards reconciliation together. She felt that raising awareness through Orange Shirt Day and including students in the designing of the shirt would help in ensuring student voice is heard and recognized.

“I felt that there was a need to come together as a community for Orange Shirt Day and am so happy with the way students and staff embraced the idea and wore their shirts in solidarity.”