Share the Love 2025

Dear Students, Staff, Parents, and Community Members,

This week, we join together across School District 91 to recognize and celebrate “Share the Love” —a dedicated time to honour kindness, inclusion, and compassion in our schools and communities.

In SD91, we are committed to creating safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all. Share the Love Day provides an opportunity for us to come together in support of one another, with a special focus on those who may feel marginalized or face barriers to belonging, including students and staff who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ and others who have historically been excluded or silenced. We also want to highlight the support for the international day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia on May 17.  These acts of care and allyship are not only gestures of kindness, but they are also essential expressions of our collective values.

As part of this week’s activities, the District has shared the book “A Boy Named Penelope” with every school. This inclusive and empowering story provides a meaningful way for students to engage in conversations about identity, self-expression, and acceptance. Schools will be sharing this or another book with students at a time that fits within their unique plans for the week.

Across the district, every school will be explicitly acknowledging Share the Love Day in a variety of ways—through classroom activities, school-wide announcements, displays, lessons, and community-building efforts that reflect the spirit of care and inclusion. While each school will approach the week in its own way, the shared intention remains the same: to build stronger connections, uplift one another, and create a deeper sense of belonging for everyone.

To our staff, thank you for modeling what it means to lead with heart and to stand up for every learner. To our students, thank you for the kindness and courage you bring to your classrooms every day. And to our families and community partners, thank you for supporting our vision of schools where all individuals are valued, respected, and celebrated.

Let’s continue to “share the love” this week and beyond—through our actions, our voices, and our shared commitment to making SD91 a place where every person belongs.

With appreciation,
Anita McClinton
Superintendent of Schools
School District 91 – Nechako Lakes

The theme for Share the Love 2025 is “Gender Diversity has always existed”. The theme was chosen by the District GSA from ideas suggested by principals and SOGI leads.

What is Gender Diversity?

Gender diversity is an umbrella term that is used to describe gender identities that demonstrate possibilities that are beyond male or female.

For many gender diverse people, the concept of binary gender – having to choose to express yourself as male or female – does not express their identity.

Some people would prefer to have the freedom to change from one gender to another, or not have a gender identity at all. Others just want to be able to openly defy or challenge more normalized concepts of gender.

For gender diverse people, their identity is about presenting something more outwardly authentic to the world, whether they understand themselves to be differently gendered, or have no gender at all.

Umbrella terms such as non-binary, genderqueer or X gender are adequately broad descriptors for gender diverse people. Individuals, however, may use more specialised personal terms to describe themselves within their own peer group and safe spaces.

There is debate about what pronouns are acceptable, or should be used to describe gender diverse people. The singular ‘they‘ (e.g. “they are taking their dog for a walk”) is widely recognised as an existing pronoun that is respectful of gender diversity. There are many other gender-neutral pronouns that people may use (such as fae and eir), but ultimately it is best to use the pronoun the gender diverse person asks for.  

What kindergarteners taught me about gender: A TED talk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvJTsrWarrw 

This website lists different pronouns and ways to be inclusive.
https://lgbtqia.ucdavis.edu/educated/pronouns-inclusive-language 

This is an article from NPR about using pronouns and explaining terms you might not be familiar with
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/996319297/gender-identity-pronouns-expression-guide-lgbtq 

Queer Glossary: A to Q Terminology
If you are looking for a glossary of terms this website has a great resource
https://qmunity.ca/learn/resources/ 

A website made by a youth collective
http://sendtherightmessage.ca/ 

This website allows you to practice different pronouns
https://pronouns.minus18.org.au/