(Name-mce) ListServ NO NAME-CALLING WEEK January 22-26

[Anselmo Villanueva]

January 22 - 26 -- Everywhere

NO NAME-CALLING WEEK for grades 5-8, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing,
and a coalition of more than 40 education, mental health, youth
advocacy, and social justice organizations - including the Safe
Schools Coalition - to address the problem of name-calling and
bullying in U.S. schools.  Schools serving grades five through eight
across the nation will take part in a week of educational activities
aimed at stopping name-calling and creating safer and more inclusive
schools for all students.

For more information:

http://www.NoNameCallingWeek.org and to register your school and to
receive educational materials

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THE HISTORY OF THE NO NAME-CALLING WEEK PROJECT

No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled "The
Misfits" by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of
four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of
all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence,
and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities
they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a
new political party during student council elections and run on a
platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. Though they
lose the election, they win the support of the school's principal for
their cause and their idea for a "No Name-Calling Day" at school.

Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, the No Name-Calling Week
Coalition, created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children's
Publishing, and consisting of over 40 national partner organizations,
organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation
during the week of March 1-5, 2004. This year, No Name-Calling Week
will take place the week of January 22-26, 2007. The project seeks to
focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools,
and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration
to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in
their communities.

COMMUNITIES and RESOURCES

The project is targeted at grades five through eight—years when the
problem of name-calling is particularly acute but the concept can be
easily adapted by students and educators at other grade levels. The
project includes a resource guide which includes an overview of the
campaign, instructions for organizing and publicizing No Name-Calling
Week in individual schools, lesson plans and other curricular
material, and further resources for those interested in extending the
experience. The project also includes a 27-minute video about
name-calling targeting grades 5-8. The video is accompanied by a
Teacher Resource Book that includes teaching ideas and fact sheets. In
addition to the resource materials and video, stickers and posters are
available to support the program. Order or download these resources
here.