Benjamin Eklund’s artwork will represent Orange Shirt Day this fall.
Eklund, a Grade 9 student from St. Thomas Aquinas Middle School, designed a logo to represent Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools on Sept. 30.
His logo depicts an eagle wrapping its wings around the phrase, every child matters.
“To Indigenous peoples, the Eagle symbolizes love and recognizes that love is a great law from the creator,” he said.
“The Eagle flies the highest and carries the prayers to the creator. We all carry the spirit of love; it is with our collective actions of kindness, caring and patience that our prayers of love will invoke the spirit of healing.”
Diane Gardipy, Indigenous Education Consultant for the Indigenous Education Department at Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools said the logo sends a strong message.
“The winner of the Orange Shirt logo identifies an Eagle who will wrap its wings around the residential school survivors, their families and all the children that did not make it home,” said Gardipy.