Best Buddies organizes Disability Awareness Week

From the week of March 11- 15, Peninsula’s Best Buddies Club organized Disability Awareness Week. Lunchtime activities encouraged the interaction between kids in the special education program and the general student body with activities such as scavenger hunts and partner races.

Best Buddies, an international non- profit organization founded in 1989, is dedicated to creating a global volunteer movement that establishes friendships between students and leaders and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  The organization is present nationwide and in over 50 countries.

Peninsula has a specific focus regarding Disability Awareness Week along with the “spread the word to end the word” campaign.  Signs were displayed throughout campus, informing students to stop using the word “r*******”, dubbing it the “R- word.”

“I don’t think people realize how hurtful the word ‘r*******’ can be,” Best Buddies club president Alyson Kim said.

The campaign also focused on ignoring differences and focusing on similarities between students.

“Disabilities Awareness week is an opportunity for our school community to promote understanding and awareness of the challenges facing those who are disabled,” Principal Mitzi Cress said.  “By shining a spotlight of the issues that face those who are disabled, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that Peninsula High continues to be an inclusive environment.”

Though many types of educational programs are coordinated at Peninsula including Yellow Ribbon Week and Red Ribbon Week, Disability Awareness Week has a direct, positive impact at the school.

“It is nice to be reminded that we’re all just students, and no one should be looked down upon for that,” junior Veronica Hanks said.