Every year, our school holds its annual inclusion week, which the Unified Program and Special Olympics organize. Inclusion Week is packed with spirit days and after-school activities that aim to include and embrace other students. Despite the significance of this week, many fail to acknowledge it and its history. The Spread the Word campaign was founded in 2009 as Spread the Word to End the Word.
The campaign, founded by two youth leaders, maintained its initial focus on removing the r-word from people’s vocabularies. The campaign’s website (spreadtheword.global) states that “Over 10 years, leaders and self-advocates collected millions of digital and physical pledges to end the R-word. Each was a personal commitment to acknowledge the hurt caused by the R-word and to be respectful in the words and actions taken towards people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” With cooperation from leaders in the Special Olympics and Best Buddies and support from hundreds of organizations, the campaign reached thousands of schools by 2018 and developed a new focus.
Renaming the campaign to Spread the Word, the campaign then focused on not just the elimination of the r-word but the creation of spaces of inclusion for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. But how did this national campaign establish itself at CT and evolve into a significant annual event?
Meginn Mithuen, a significant contributor and organizer involved in the Unified Program, has experienced the impact of the nationwide campaign and its effect on the Unified Program. Mituhen recalls discussions among staff and administration at CT on the presence of Special Olympics at our school. “So they said, ‘Now that we’ve established Special Olympics in schools, our students are more prevalent. They’re more included in these settings. Let’s change our efforts around inclusion.’” Mituhen also adds how “one of the things that keeps us in good standing with the Special Olympics is sustaining an entire week celebrating inclusion.”
To uphold this week, the Unified Program undergoes weeks of planning in preparation for inclusion week. To give more details on the planning process, Mithuen says, “So we have a Special Olympics peer partners club, and the presidents of that club and the other members, along with our unified athletes, plan it together at one of our peer partners meetings.”
Junior, Cathleen Sullivan, who is a contributor to the Unified Program, jumped at the opportunity to assist in the organization of Inclusion Week. Sullivan speaks about how she and the Unified Program “plan the spirit days for Inclusion Week and how that would work throughout the school and then any after-school events” Additionally, Inclusion Week accepts donations and participants for the Special Olympics Polar Plunge, an event where members of the CT community run a 5k and then jump into the Aurora reservoir to raise money for Special Olympics and the Unified Program.
Through her contribution to Inclusion Week, Sullivan adds how she has had a very positive experience due to the opportunity to be included in the CT community by making a positive impact. Through her experience, Sullivan highlighted an overlooked focus of Inclusion Week. Sullivan says, “It’s a week that we really dive into the diversity we have here at CT. Inclusion Week really just likes to focus on not only people who have special needs, but just everybody around the school and it’s just a week we use to highlight that more”.
As the celebration of Inclusion Week has evolved, the Unified Program has consistently maintained its goal of spreading awareness and finding more ways for kids to be included.
