Local band VG3 helped pass on the message of kindness for this year’s Pink Shirt Day when they performed at the assembly at North Island Secondary School (NISS) in Port McNeill.
Nimfa Casson, NISS teacher who organized the Feb. 28 event, said that having the band perform was a fun way to inspire students and get the message across in a new way.
“It’s a fun afternoon for us to celebrate and remind everyone what pink shirt day is about,” said Casson, who organized the Feb.28 event, adding “It’s just a reminder that we have a long ways to go with acceptance and being inclusive.”
The band, who often perform at open mic nights at the Gate House Theatre, is comprised of Donovan Van Gorkom and his two sons who are also NISS students. Donovan’s son Braedan is in grade 11 and plays bass and his brother Adrian is in grade eight and plays the keyboard.
They were joined by a fellow grade 11 NISS student, and guitarist Niall Weyer and Randy Carter, a drummer who filled in for the band’s regular drummer, Matt Barron.
All of the songs VG3 performed addressed bullying in some way like Billy Talent’s “Nothing to Lose” which deals with themes of bullying and suicide.
Their first song was actually an original called “Fortress” written by Braeden and VG3 later performed another original written by Donovan called “Busted.”
The band closed the performance with a rock inspired cover of country music singer Hunter Hayes’ song “Invisible”.
Port McNeill Mayor Shirley Ackland also attend the assembly, giving a speech and handing out pink shirts that she purchased and donated to grade 12 students at NISS.
“It’s my pleasure to purchase pink shirts for the grade 12 class for the last few years because we see you as kindness ambassadors in our school,” said Ackland.
During her speech, she also addressed cyber bullying, which is the theme of Pink Shirt Day 2018.
“Many people will sometimes post something nasty or unkind on Facebook without ever considering the consequences of that post….but it isn’t nameless and isn’t harmless,” said Ackland, who finished her speech encouraging the students to be generous listeners to those around them.
About Pink Shirt Day:
Pink Shirt Day was inspired by an act of kindness that took place in 2007, when two Nova Scotian teenagers encouraged their friends to wear pink in support of a grade nine boy who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. It has since grown into a movement that is celebrated annually across the globe and raised funds for anti-bullying programs.
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