Special Olympians honored: DHS students pledge to end the “R” word
Nearly two dozen Special Olympic athletes received a standing ovation from the DHS student body Monday as cheers resonated through the all-purpose gymnasium at the Du Quoin High School.
Athletes walked one-by-one to the front to receive medals and certificates honoring them as champions.
Afterwards, high school students filed to the floor to sign a special banner pledging to "Spread the word to end the (R) word."
The colored markers were uncapped in a national campaign to replace the word "retardation" with another "R" word--"respect."
The respect for our Du Quoin athletes was huge. In the words of one of the speakers they took to the field at Friday's games with "tremendous passion and infectious smiles."
The assembly opened with a video to the song "Don't Laugh at Me", a chart-topping single by Mark Wills, actually written by Allen Shamblin after his daughter was teased at school because of her freckles.
Freckles aren't the same as physical or intellectual disabilities but the hurt is the same, according to young John Henly, a national special olympics spokesman, who brought the room to a dead silence when he spoke about stigmas and the need to end them now. He said, "When the R word goes up it's like putting a wall between us," he said. "It hurts." He added, "The new R word is respect."
Students Caitlin Asbury, Cassidy Rice and Travis Chapman added their thoughts as did Paul Melzer, area 15 director.
DHS principal Matt Hickam did a tremendous job of transitioning from one guest speaker to another.
Du Quoin High School athletes honored included Brenna Asbury, Katie Kim, Kayla Lynch, Elizabeth Davis, Brooke Dunham, Andy Macaluso, Michael Ellison, Jordan Grizzell, Cody Heape, Jordan Bem, Melissa Rogers, Iann Vaz, Brandon Ferrari, Justin Ratajczyk, Melody Webb, Anthony Heatherly, Bart Eberhardt and Kevin Pierce, Du Quoin Middle School athletes honored were Camlin Logan, Dakota Duppong, Jacob Bealer, Dakota Watts, Dakota Hartline, Michael Russell, Idris Abdulsalam, Ryan Ward and James Conrad.
Congratulations to these champions.