St. Augustine Student Wins Orange Shirt Day Design Contest
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Supporters across the country will wear a t-shirt designed by St. Augustine School student Geraldine Catalbas on this year’s Orange Shirt Day.
Catalbas, a grade 11 student, created the design that will be featured on t-shirts produced by the Orange Shirt Society to support residential school reconciliation and raise awareness of the intergenerational impacts of residential schools.
“It was quite surreal and very unexpected,” says Catalbas. “I was very ecstatic to find out that my design won!”
Caltabas’ design, inspired by memorials on the front steps of churches, depicts shoes representing lost children. The shoelaces trail into the shape of an eagle, symbolizing the everlasting freedom of these children in the afterlife.
The design has a dual meaning, Catalbas said. It is meant to both honour the memory of Indigenous children who died in residential schools and pay tribute to the strength and resilience of generations of survivors.
“The first meaning is the children who have passed away and the hope they are in heaven with God,” Catalbas explained, adding she was also inspired by a desire to represent the residential school survivor parents and grandparents of her First Nations friends.
“They have shown me that, though they have gone through the unthinkable, they still create change, fight, and show they haven’t lost,” she explained.
“No matter who you are or what you look like it shouldn't make any difference because we are all human beings, and we should treat each other with respect and kindness. I am very thankful for the opportunity to share my design and hope that we can all learn to accept each other as God accepted us.”
Catalbas will receive a $200 prize for her winning design and will also be flown to meet Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad on September 30.