RespectFest 2020 celebrates healthy relationships

For immediate release

Choose Respect is holding a community festival, RespectFest, on March 29th, 2020 from 1 - 4 pm at the Wheaton Community Recreation Center. This FREE festival, geared towards middle and high school students, parents, educators and youth serving providers, will have activities, games and information about celebrating healthy relationships and on dating violence prevention and where someone can go to get help.

The festival emcee is Alex from the MoCo Show. There will be performances, free food, raffles, free yoga and self-defense demos. Students can earn SSL hours for attending.

The Choose Respect Video Contest is now accepting entries! The first-place prize is $1,000. The deadline is February 28, 2020. Middle and high school students can submit a 60 second video about dating violence in English or Spanish for a chance to win. More information and rules are here: https://www. montgomerycountymd.gov/fjc/ chooserespect/video.html. The winners will also be announced at RespectFest.

RespectFest is sponsored by the Montgomery County Government, Montgomery County Recreation, Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery County Parks and the Montgomery County Family Justice Center Foundation. For more information, please visit https://www. montgomerycountymd.gov/fjc/ chooserespect/.

Teen dating violence is a pattern of physically, sexually, verbally, and/or emotionally abusive or controlling behavior in a dating relationship. One in three teens in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse.

The Choose Respect Initiative in Montgomery County promotes respect in dating relationships and to raise community awareness about the prevalence of teen dating violence.

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