The “R” word is one that has become all too common to hear in the hallway passing by a group of friends joking around with each other or in the courtyard passing by a group of immature teenagers.

Not many people consider it offensive to call someone a retard because it has become socially accepted. The overuse of the word has caused people to forget its true meaning. In order to bring awareness to the overuse of the word, Perry has been doing a campaign called “Spread the word to end the word” since we first opened our doors in 2007.

This year the campaign was handed down to the head coach of the Unified Sports team, Rose Escalante.

“This year we’re starting to get more involved around campus,” Escalante said, “and we even teamed up with stugo to get the word out at the assembly.”

Stugo introduced the campaign at the Spring MORP assembly in order to bring it to light for the students.

The program wants to be taken more seriously around campus, and they want to inform more students of the importance of the campaign.

Escalante also included that she is “trying to make the school more inclusive of the students, with sports, and other programs like art and drama.”

Rose wants for the disabled kids to be able to participate in as much as they can during high school and get the best high school experience that is possible for them, just as any other student is able to do.

Senior Issac Thompson is apart of the Unified Sports team and got involved with the Spread the Word to end the Word campaign through the club.

Thompson said, “I hope that the campaign continues to grow bigger and bigger, not just at our school, but nationwide.”

Make a pledge today to end the use of the “R” word.