A message promoting understanding and kindness will soon be splashed across the fronts of pink T-shirts, as part of the Boys and Girls Club of Airdrie (BGCA) Pink Shirt Day activities. Students from Airdrie and Rocky View County (RVC) were invited to submit suggestions for a slogan to be printed on this year’s pink T-shirts. The winning slogan was entered by the Kathyrn Kindness Crew, comprised of students from grades 1 to 5 at Kathyrn School. “The slogan is ‘Colour the world with kindness,’” said Jessica Nash, BGCA manager of events and volunteers. In their submission, Nash said, the students wrote, “Without kindness, the world would just be black and white and have no joy or rainbows.” “We thought we could try to be a group that had more kindness in our school, so we decided to have a kindness group for the slogan,” said Grade-4 student Abbey, a member of the Kindness Crew. “For the slogan, we put sticky notes on the [suggestions] that we liked the best and that one won.” Grade-4 student Kayota came up with the slogan the students eventually chose as their favourite. “It means a lot to me. I’m really happy that we have won, and I’m glad that we participated,” she said. The winning slogan will be printed on 1,000 pink shirts, along with the image of a rainbow. The T-shirts will be sold through schools throughout Airdrie, Nash said, and at the BGCA centre at the Ron Ebbesen Arena to promote Pink Shirt Day, which falls on Feb. 27 this year. The Kindness Crew meets at recess and lunchtime throughout the year, according to Grade-4 student, Mercedes. “We do kind things around the school,” she said. “I’ve been a member since last year.” This is the second time students from Kathyrn School have won the BGCA’s Pink Shirt Day contest – in 2017, then-Grade-2 student Mercedes won with her submitted artwork. It’s a great accomplishment for the small rural school, according to Lindsy Shaver, child development advisor at Kathyrn School, which has an enrolment of 165 students from grades 1 through 8. The Kathyrn Kindness Crew’s next order of business, according to Shaver, is to plan Pink Shirt Day activities at the school for all students to participate in. Pink Shirt Day is a worldwide initiative aimed at raising awareness about bullying and prevention. The BGCA will hold a Pink Party Feb. 27 with guest speakers and entertainment, Nash said. “We’re just in the planning stages of what that will look like,” she said. “We’ll be doing something at the centre on the 27th after school.” More information about Pink Shirt Day can be found at pinkshirtday.ca
