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By Caden Fanshaw

SD 57

Orange tulips planted by Harwin Elementary students in honour of residential school victims

Nov 1, 2021 | 6:32 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Some orange tulips will be popping up in the garden at Harwin Elementary come this spring in honour of the hundreds of children who never made it home from residential schools.

“It feels good to be acknowledging something that happening, even though it should have back then, but I feel good that we’re doing it now,” said Hailey-Mae, a Grade 6 student at Harwin.

A class of Grade 6 and 7 students planted the bulbs on Monday, and will nurture them until they bloom in the spring.

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“Doing this is really important because they were literally taken from their families and forced to learn a different culture, which is very sad,” said Julia, a Grade 6 student.

Linda McGraw, Principal at Harwin Elementary says educators at the school work hard to have meaningful discussions about truth and reconciliation with students often.

“We want our students to be moving forward, making sure they remember, they honour, and they recognize,” said McGraw. “A lot of our families are families that have gone through residential schools, they have the history of residential schools, they have the trauma of residential schools, so it’s really important for us in this building to make sure we recognize that each and every day.”

The orange tulips will serve as a growing symbol of truth and reconciliation for students and community members who visit the school grounds.