The colour orange is often attributed to October, when leaves turn that vibrant shade of rust and pumpkins are seen adorning steps in anticipation of trick-or-treaters knocking on doors in search of candy. At TMC, orange is also one of our school colours, brightening the background of our Titan's "T" in our school logo.

However, for a simple, spicy hue, the colour orange has come to mean so much more: a symbol for residential-school survivors, remembrance, acceptance, change. So many feelings from one pumpkin-skinned colour, and it all began with a little girl and a newly purchased, highly prized T-shirt.

On Sept. 30, TMC students and staff will join thousands of other schools in Canada in wearing orange to show solidarity to the Orange Shirt Day movement. 

Last year, our Learning Commons purchased The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad, chronicling an eight-year-old's 12 months at the Mission residential school in British Columbia, and the significance of the Orange Shirt movement.

Phyllis (Jack) Webstad's Orange Shirt Story

Follow on Twitter: #OrangeShirtDay

Click to Learn more about Orange Shirt Day

When Phyllis Jack was only six years old, she lived with her grandmother on the Dog Creek Reserve in British Columbia until she, like many other indigenous children in Canada, was shipped off to residential school. It was 1973/74, and her grandmother decided to scrape together whatever money she could find to buy Phyllis a bright orange shirt to take with her to the Mission school.

What was little Phyllis thinking as she waved goodbye to her granny, and the only family she knew? Was she scared? Excited? Nervous?

If she was like many children her age, she was all three. As a six-year-old, these new and strange experiences would have thundered in her heart as she made the journey; they would have caused her breath to catch and her eyes to water. Her mind would have raced at the thoughts of the unknowns but then be comforted that she had a piece of home with her to keep her connected to the family she left behind — a simple, colourful orange shirt.

Oh, how in shock she would have been when upon her arrival, she was stripped of her clothes and the one possession that tied her to her granny. Oh, how devastated she would have felt to see all the things that came with her, linking her to her heritage, her home, gone like garbage — thrown out, never to be seen again — even her identity and self-worth.

Phyllis wasn't the only child ripped from the only home she knew to be raised by strangers in a foreign environment. In fact, her own mother and grandmother had endured the same; each generation leaving the one to come without the loving support of an elder to guide the way.

So it was, when she became a mother before the age of 14, Phyllis had no idea how to be a parent to her son, Jeremy. It was only through the help of her Auntie that this teen mom learned how to show love to another, but it wasn't easy and she eventually sought healing at 27.

It was because of her struggles that she wrote The Orange Shirt Story, telling the sad tale of her first year at the Mission school and the importance one piece of clothing had to identity.

Today, Phyllis Jack (now Webstad) is a Northern Secwpemc (Schuswap) elder from the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band). She lives in Williams Lake, B.C., with her husband, son, step-son, and five grandchildren. She tours the country, telling The Orange Shirt Story, as the executive director of the Orange Shirt Society. The society's goal is to create awareness of individual, family and community intergenerational impacts of Indian residential schools through Orange Shirt Day activities, and to promote the mantra that "every child matters."

The Orange Shirt Society began commemorating Sept. 30 as Orange Shirt Day in 2013 in Williams Lake, B.C., which has since spread throughout school districts across the country.
Secret Path Week: Oct. 17 - 22, 2020


Secret Path Week is a national movement which occurs annually from Oct. 17-22. The week was inspired by Chanie Wenjack, a victim of the residential school system.

Residential School Books at TMC:

Over the past few years, we have steadily accumulated a growing collection of books and audio/visual resources focusing on the residential schools, and their survivors, including:

Non-Fiction:

Title

• The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad
• Residential Schools: The Devastating Impact on Canada's Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Findings and Calls for Action by Melanie Florance
• We Were Children by The National Film Board of Canada (DVD)
• A Childhood Lost: A Residential School Experience by Grey Wolf Productions (DVD)
• Sixties Scoop by Erin Nicks
• Cultural Appropriation by Heather Hudak
• 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadian Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Robert P.C. Joseph
• The Secret Path by Gord Downie
• Not my Girl by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton
• When I was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton 
• Fatty Legs: A True Story by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton
• A Stranger at Home by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton
• Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A Memoir by Theodore Fontaine

RealFiction:

• Dear Canada: These are my Words: The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens by Ruby Slipperjack
• I am not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer
• Shin-chi's Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell
• Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I, Campbell
• My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling
• The Journey Forward: Novellas on Reconciliation by Julie Flett

Digital Resources:

Residential Schools in Canada: A Timeline by Historica Canada

Namwayut: We Are All One: Chief Robert Joseph shares his experience as a residential school survivor and the importance of truth and reconciliation in Canada

Fatty Legs: A True Story author Christy Jordan-Fenton reads Chapter 1 from her book, which was co-authored by Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton 

In this CBC Arts Live documentary, the late Canadian Tragically Hip frontman, Gord Downie, explains the journey he took to recounting the true story of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack, who ran away from the Cecelia Jeffery Residential School in Kenora, ON, in 1966. In his graphic novel, The Secret Path, illustrated by Jeff Lemire, Downie sings his song of the same name, delivering a haunting musical commemoration of Chanie's life and his fatal trek to return home to Ogoki Post, some 600 kilometres away. The. documentary also includes conversations with Chanie Wenjack's family and the impact his tragic death, as well as the residential schools' impact on their community, their culture, their families.

This documentary includes a panel discussion on The Road to Reconciliation

On Sunday, Sept. 20, thousands of Canadians will don running shoes and pound pathways in a virtual Terry Fox Foundation run to support cancer research, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Terry's Marathon of Hope.  

But, who was Terry Fox?

A Canadian, yes. 

An athlete, definitely.

A cancer survivor, that, too.

A victim of cancer, ultimately.

But he was so much more.

He WAS and IS hope.

"It's Got to Keep Going Without Me."

Terry Fox was only 18 when he lost a large portion of his right leg to cancer, a loss that would forever change his life, his future, and put him on the path to national heroism, even if that wasn't his goal.

A mere four years after the amputation, the Winnipeg youth set off on a nationwide marathon to raise money and awareness for cancer research. The run would begin in St. John's, NL, Canada's eastern-most province, and end Sept. 1, 1980, in Northern Ontario, some 5,373.6 kilometres later, with the words, "It's got to keep going without me."

The pain he had pushed through each morning and night had travelled to his chest, and he could cope with it no longer. He had pounded the highways through six provinces to get here —143 days of jogging on an artificial limb made of fibreglass and steel that stretched from his thigh down into his shoe. 

What kept him moving? What kept him focused on his goal? 

Sheer will. Unbridled determination. His goal was not only to finish in British Columbia, but to end his run with desire to raise $1 for every Canadian: $22 million. But, that wasn't to be. No, this spunky, determined teenager would defy the odds and skeptics to raise not only more than his goal, but the hopes and dreams of every Canadian lining the shoulders, cheering him on. 

He was their hero.

He was their hope.

The Marathon of Hope ended with $23.4 million for the Canadian Cancer Society, and a fan club that would keep his dream alive for the next 40 years, and counting.

And on June 28, 1981, one month shy of his 23rd birthday, Terry died of the disease that had ravaged his once healthy body. The cancer had spread to his lung. Surrounded by family, he passed his legacy onto a new generation of Marathon of Hope runners that began the following September, which raised another $3.5 million.

And now, it's your turn. Register for Sunday's run HERE.

— Editorial and Photo source: Terry Fox Official Website 

Terry's Story

TMC's Learning Commons' collection has several books on Terry's life and the Marathon of Hope, but this past year, we added two new additions to our shelves: Terry Fox: His Story (revised) by Leslie Scrivener and Terry Fox by Jennifer Sutoski. Other books written about Terry in our collection are: 

• Terry Fox: A Story of Hope by Maxine Trottier
• The Terry Fox Run by Jane Gould
• Terry Fox by Bryan Pezzi
• Terry by Douglas Coupland
• The Greatest Canadian: Volume 2 (video recording) by CBC
• Run by Eric Walters (RealFiction)

Terry's Words of Wisdom

“I’ve said to people before that I’m going to do my very best to make it, I’m not going to give up. But I might not make it… if I don’t, the Marathon of Hope better continue.”

“There can be no reason for me to stop. No matter what pain I suffer, it is nothing compared to the pain of those who have cancer, of those who endure treatment.”

“I’ve got cancer in my lungs. We have to go home and do some more treatments. But all I can say is that if there is any way I can get out there and finish, I will.”

“Today we got up at 4 a.m. As usual, it was tough. If I died, I would die happy because I was doing what I wanted to do. How many people could say that? I went out and did fifteen push-ups in the road and took off. I want to set an example that will never be forgotten.”

“I got satisfaction out of doing things that were difficult. It was an incredible feeling. The pain was there, but the pain didn’t matter.”

“To me, being famous myself is not the idea of the run, and it wasn’t from the very beginning. To me, the only important part is the Marathon of Hope.”

“I could not leave [the cancer ward] knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine. I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause.”

“They seem to forget what I’m doing this for. They think I’m running across Canada on some kind of an ego trip. It is a personal challenge, but I’m trying to raise as much money as I can for a very important cause. I need their financial support.”

“People take it the wrong way when I say I want to run alone. But I have to do it my own way. I have to really concentrate to ignore the pain and keep going. Sometimes I’m actually crying while I’m running but I just don’t think about it.”

“I set daily goals for myself, and it’s really important that I achieve them. I need to have a daily sense of accomplishment. I know if I fall short of those goals that I will never finish.”

“I decided to take it (cancer) as it was. I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. I wanted to do everything I could, everything that could be done.”
“When I started this run, I said that if we all gave one dollar, we’d have $22 million for cancer research, and I don’t care man, there’s no reason that isn’t possible. No reason!”

“I’m not doing the run to become rich or famous.”

“It’s one thing to run across Canada, but now, people are really going to know what cancer is.”

“People were still lining the road saying, ‘Keep going, don’t give up, you can do it, you can make it, we’re all behind you.’ There was a camera crew waiting to film me. I don’t think they even realized that they had filmed my last mile… people were still saying, ‘You can make it all the way Terry’. I started to think about those comments in that mile too. Yeah, I thought, this might be my last one.”

“I’m not a dreamer, and I’m not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to.”

— Source: Terry Fox Official Website 

Welcome back!

The Learning Commons looks a bit different these days, as the start of school has meant a new direction for our learning space. 

We have Learning Centres for Education Assistants to work with students in a quiet, socially distanced space, and while students and staff cannot browse our collection to search for that ripping read, they can peruse the collection online via eLibrary.

If you need a refresher on how to use eLibrary, I've created a Mrs. Karen's eLibrary Tutorial that you can watch to get some tips on browsing and accessing eLibrary's many resources.

Ordering Books for Classroom Delivery!

Just because you can't browse our shelves doesn't mean you can't check out a book! The Learning Commons will be taking Book Orders from students and staff, with delivery right to your classroom! All you need to do to order your books is to fill out and submit your TMC Student Book Order. 

To fill out a book order, you will need to know:

• The Title
• The Author
• The Call Number

All this information is available on eLibrary's catalogue information. Just take note of these three items when you browse the database. Once your order is received, I will let your teacher know when it's ready for delivery. Students can check out two books at a time. The due dates will be determined and noted on the order when dropped off at your classroom.

Joke of the Month: