Spread the Word Day: March 5, 2025
Presented by Special Olympics Minnesota
What is Spread the Word?
In 2009, the Spread the Word campaign was founded on the audacious belief that we could end the discrimination and exclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and replace it with inclusion.
The world would be better if all people were valued, respected, embraced, included. Included in the games we play and the friends we make. Included in our schools, our workplaces, and our communities.
You can take action today to make your school, your workplace, your community, and your world more inclusive. Seek out someone who has been left out, isolated, or bullied. Sit with them. Welcome them. Be a friend. Be a teammate. The actions you take for inclusion are unique to you, but they contribute to a shared vision: our individual actions can create a new and inclusive world. In fact, they are the only thing that can.
Educate your Community
Education is a great way to start making your community more inclusive! Empower your students to stand up for kindness and inclusion. Check out these educational resources!
Combat the use of the R-word
You may hear the r-word word continue to be used in your schools and community, and Spread the Word works to completely eliminate this word. Take a few minutes on Spread the Word Day to educate your students on the history of the use of the r-word.
Spread the Word Lesson Plans
Generation Unified is a resource with dozens of videos and lesson plans to help you teach your students about topics like inclusion, bullying prevention and teamwork. Check out all the valuable and free Generation Unified resources:
Engage on Social Media
Encourage your students to spread kindness on social media! Social media can be a difficult place for students and full of negativity and cyberbullying. Empower your students to be a source of positivity on social media! Here are a few ways your students can make social media a better place:
- Share a photo with your Unified friends on Spread the Word Day with the hashtags #SpreadtheWord, #GenerationUnified, and #WordsMatter.
- Do an Instagram takeover on your school's account! Take followers along while you show what a day full of Unified activities looks like.
- Encourage your students to follow their classmates and leave positive and supportive comments!
Get Creative!
How do you want to celebrate Spread the Word Day? Brainstorm with your Unified Club and make your own list!
- Dress Up Day - Pick a theme to dress up as and have a contest for the best costume! You can also create a fundraiser by having students bring one dollar to participate.
- Kick-off Event - Host a Whole School Assembly or talk about Unified in the before/after school announcements to get the entire school involved!
- Decorate the school - Hang posters around the school! Students can design their own posters, or print these posters!
- Inclusion Bingo - Choose a week for students to participate in Inclusion Bingo!
- Check out this page for more resources and ideas!