There is a Human Rights Awareness Tour coming to the University of Wiconsin-La Crosse. As a part of this week we will be setting up a booth at the clock tower to spread the word to end the word. There will be information on why not to use the "r" word and where more information can be obtained.

Carolyn Voelker, a Special Olympics Athlete and a member of Special Olympics Wisconsin's Athlete Input Council, will be talking to the 2nd-4th grade students at Colby Elementary School.

We will have a table set up during lunch hours. Students will sign a pledge card, which will be hung up on the wall with alternatives for the r-word listed.

The 3 girls basketball teams will wear R-Word Campaign shirts to school and to the Winter Sports Awards Banquet that night. Athlete Input Council Member Hannah Grable will speak.

Our SHARE (Students, Helping, Accepting, Relating and Empowering others to succeed)class at the High School promotes respect through awareness during three lunch periods. Students were encouraged to take the pledge. Laptops were available in the lunchroom to sign up. Students signed the poster that will be on display in the commons and were able to purchase a Spread the Word to End the Word T-shirt. Our class is in the process of developing an assembly production for the Middle School to spread the word at a younger level.

We had students and staff take the pledge on-line and sign a poster. Also we had students wear the T-shirts.

We plan on having staff and students at LaFollette high school sign the poster as a pledge. The poster will be out all week during our school lunches, and we plan to give away tshirts and buttons.

We will be selling t-shirts, buttons, collecting pledges and signing our banner all week during the three lunch periods. One lucky button purchaser will win an administrator's parking spot for two weeks!

During the lunch hours we will have students pledge to stop using the derogatory term by signing their names on a 5x7 canvas. We will also help eliminate the r-word by handing out pamphlets as well as bracelets, stickers, and buttons.

We will have a table set up during all lunch hours for students and faculty to sign and pledge. Our goal is 500 signatures! The East student body will join together to stop the use of R word and spread awareness for the campaign!

South High School will be putting a banner in the library/media center. Sue Dennis, the media specialist there, is also doing the morning announcement on the 3rd about the on line pledge, then having the guidance counselor talk about respectful language and the “r” word. We will have students and staff sign the banner and talk about the meaning of the campaign as they enter the media center. She will also facilitate having students pledge on line. The banner will also travel to the other 22 schools in the district.

Gordon Hodge, Special Olympic athlete, will talk to Shepherds employees about the importance of treating all people with respect and eliminating the "r" word when referring to people with developmental disabilities.