Attorney General Matt Denn
Spread the Word to End the Word
"Appoquinimink High Students Among Thousands of Delawareans Standing Up to Challenge"
posted Wed, Mar 5, 2014 by Jon Buzby via Special Olympics Delaware (www.sode.org/news/detail/appoquinimink-high-students-step...)
MIDDLETOWN, DE — At first sight, it appeared to be just another school day on Wednesday at Appoquinimink High School as hundreds of students shuffled through the hallways traveling from their regularly scheduled classes to the auditorium for an assembly.
The students, representing all four grade levels, quickly filed to their chairs in an orderly fashion. Once seated, they soon realized that this was not going to be just another “regular” presentation as their peer, Julia Hensley, stood up to the dais and introduced Lt. Governor Matt Denn.
“It’s not complicated,” Denn immediately told the audience. “I think we are beyond using the R-word. And I hope and expect it’s just not acceptable around here.”
The assembly was one of several held throughout the state as part of the annual Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. In its sixth year in Delaware, the day is an opportunity for students and staff in schools at all levels to encourage others to stop using the word “retard” and all forms of it.
“When you use it, it’s like calling someone stupid,” Ryan Taylor, whose sister has Down syndrome, explained to students. “Just last summer, my sister was called the R-word at the pool by some 40-year-old man who didn’t even know her. He judged her based solely on her appearance.”
The crowd sat mesmerized as Ryan, with his sister, Jordan, standing alongside him, talked about her having a job working with legislators in Dover, reinforcing the importance of not judging people on looks alone, but instead treating everyone with respect and dignity.
More than 80 public and private schools statewide, from preschools to universities, joined schools in every state across the nation in a global movement of mutual respect and human dignity. Every school participated in a banner-signing event during lunch periods or at some point in the day, while others supplemented the banner activity with other school-wide initiatives, including hosting assemblies like the one held at Appoquinimink High.
“I think this is very important,” said Melinda Tartaglione, a teacher whose son has an intellectual disability and attends Middletown High. “Even though it’s just one little word, society doesn’t always think about how hurtful it can be. This was a very positive message.”
Students enjoyed watching a short, entertaining video that reinforced an earlier message about how it’s not always the leader that impacts a movement the most, but rather the first person willing to follow the lead.
“I certainly won’t ever use the word,” junior Julia Barba said after seeing the clip. “I never did before but certainly never would now.”
“Today’s presentations just made it clear that all of us are really the same,” junior Maddie Reynolds pointed out. “And that everybody deserves the same amount of respect.”
The final speaker ended her presentation with a question: “Are you brave enough to stand up for change?”
She then followed that up with a challenge: “Stand up, be brave, and join the movement.”
And when the applause died down marking the end of the assembly, hundreds of Jaguar students stood to do exactly that.
Spread the Word to End the Word
"Appoquinimink High Students Among Thousands of Delawareans Standing Up to Challenge"
posted Wed, Mar 5, 2014 by Jon Buzby via Special Olympics Delaware (www.sode.org/news/detail/appoquinimink-high-students-step...)
MIDDLETOWN, DE — At first sight, it appeared to be just another school day on Wednesday at Appoquinimink High School as hundreds of students shuffled through the hallways traveling from their regularly scheduled classes to the auditorium for an assembly.
The students, representing all four grade levels, quickly filed to their chairs in an orderly fashion. Once seated, they soon realized that this was not going to be just another “regular” presentation as their peer, Julia Hensley, stood up to the dais and introduced Lt. Governor Matt Denn.
“It’s not complicated,” Denn immediately told the audience. “I think we are beyond using the R-word. And I hope and expect it’s just not acceptable around here.”
The assembly was one of several held throughout the state as part of the annual Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. In its sixth year in Delaware, the day is an opportunity for students and staff in schools at all levels to encourage others to stop using the word “retard” and all forms of it.
“When you use it, it’s like calling someone stupid,” Ryan Taylor, whose sister has Down syndrome, explained to students. “Just last summer, my sister was called the R-word at the pool by some 40-year-old man who didn’t even know her. He judged her based solely on her appearance.”
The crowd sat mesmerized as Ryan, with his sister, Jordan, standing alongside him, talked about her having a job working with legislators in Dover, reinforcing the importance of not judging people on looks alone, but instead treating everyone with respect and dignity.
More than 80 public and private schools statewide, from preschools to universities, joined schools in every state across the nation in a global movement of mutual respect and human dignity. Every school participated in a banner-signing event during lunch periods or at some point in the day, while others supplemented the banner activity with other school-wide initiatives, including hosting assemblies like the one held at Appoquinimink High.
“I think this is very important,” said Melinda Tartaglione, a teacher whose son has an intellectual disability and attends Middletown High. “Even though it’s just one little word, society doesn’t always think about how hurtful it can be. This was a very positive message.”
Students enjoyed watching a short, entertaining video that reinforced an earlier message about how it’s not always the leader that impacts a movement the most, but rather the first person willing to follow the lead.
“I certainly won’t ever use the word,” junior Julia Barba said after seeing the clip. “I never did before but certainly never would now.”
“Today’s presentations just made it clear that all of us are really the same,” junior Maddie Reynolds pointed out. “And that everybody deserves the same amount of respect.”
The final speaker ended her presentation with a question: “Are you brave enough to stand up for change?”
She then followed that up with a challenge: “Stand up, be brave, and join the movement.”
And when the applause died down marking the end of the assembly, hundreds of Jaguar students stood to do exactly that.