In February, Valentine's Day offers opportunities for lessons on friendship and caring. At the end of the month, many schools are set to participate in Pink Shirt Day and celebrate inclusion and acceptance while focusing on preventing bullying and addressing homophobic name-calling, teasing and harassment.

Meanwhile, educators interested in incorporating some of the themes of compassion and acceptance implicit in Pink Shirt Day are encouraged to visit the district's new Compassion in Action portal. This is a new online resource with all sorts of information detailing how to further embed compassion and kindness in the classroom.

Pink Shirt Day isn't the only thing that aligns with this new portal. 

World renowned author and speaker Karen Armstrong, creator of the Charter for Compassion, and TED Talk Prize Winner, will be in Vancouver in March for 12 Days of Compassion. Events include a public talk on March 22 at Gladstone Secondary School. Learn more about Armstrong's visit and check out all the new Compassion resources here.