Valley View STEP Students Launch Ability Awareness Month

Submitted by Valley View School District:

The entire student body and faculty at Valley View’s Secondary Transition Experience Program (S.T.E.P.) will celebrate Ability Awareness Month throughout March with a variety of activities.

Included in the month-long observation will be a “Spread The Word to End the Word” campaign based on the nationwide Special Olympics and Best Buddies campaigns that are designed to create awareness about the “R-word” (retard) and how hurtful words and disrespect can be toward people with intellectual disabilities.

“At STEP we celebrate differences,” said Kelly Plese who is one of three transition teachers heading up the campaign. “Instead of seeing us as a school for students with disabilities, we want the community to see our students as students with abilities.”

“And from our students’ standpoint, we want all of them to see each other as equals and see that we are one big community,” added Transition Teacher Tricia Maybaum.

The campaign will begin on Tuesday, March 3 with a kickoff activity for students to talk about how they can spread the word. Conversations about famous people who have overcome disabilities will take place all week in classrooms.

On Wednesday, March 4, STEP students will visit the Valley View School District 365U Administration Center to campaign for “Spread the Word” and to ask district staff members to sign a pledge not to use the ”R-word.” Later that morning a Best Buddies Ambassador will visit classrooms.

“She’ll talk about how people used the R-Word against her, how it brought her down and how she followed her dreams anyway,” said Transition Teacher Jill Westall. “She graduated. She got a job. Our students will be able to relate to her.”

On March 5, students will take their message and their pledge to the main campus of Joliet Junior College, and on March 6, they will do the same thing at the VVSD Transportation Center.

Throughout the month, T-shirts with the saying “Whatever you are be a good one” (an Abraham Lincoln quote) are being sold for $12. Hoodies are $30. Contact Plese for more information or orders.

Later in the month, on March 27, students and staff will culminate the month’s activities by playing a basketball game in the Brooks Middle School gymnasium.

“It’s all about understanding and acceptance,” Plese said.