Unity Day

Welcome Page

Section One: Reframing the Narrative

Section Two: Inclusion Year-Round

Section Three: Ideas for Any Disability Event

Section Four: Four District-Recognized Disability/Inclusion Events and Ways to Celebrate

• Disability Awareness (Any Time)
• National Bullying Prevention Month and Unity Day (October)
• Inclusive Schools Week (First Week of December)
• Disability History Month (March)

Unity Day is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month. On the third Wednesday of October, wear and share orange as a representation of the message that our society wants to prevent bullying and is united for kindness, acceptance and inclusion!

Why orange? Orange is a color commonly associated with October and the autumn season. More importantly, orange is also associated with safety and visibility and is an inviting, warm and vibrant color that makes an impactful statement.

Learn more by visiting PACER's Unity Day webpage.

PACER's Unity Day Guide has ideas for celebratory and learning activities, digital resources for social media and suggestions for morning announcements for the days leading up to Unity Day.

Find a space at your school that needs beautifying and create a Unity Mural! Choose a design that means something to your school and incorporate the ideas of unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Add student, staff and administrator handprints to show that everyone belongs!

In these two videos that are part of PACER's puppet series, Carmen and her friends discuss unity and ways that kids can work together to create a world without bullying. The videos have an accompanying educator guide and worksheets. (Designed for Kindergarten to Third Grade)

Brought to you by PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center, Episode 6 of Carmen’s Corner focuses on "unity.” Carmen and friends talk about unity and ways that kids can work together to create a world without bullying. Since this is a two-part video, one idea could be to share Part A in the days leading up to Unity Day, and share Part B on Unity Day. The Unity Episodes Educator Guide and the worksheet for this episode are linked below.

Educator Guide

Worksheet A

Part B of the two videos on Unity would be perfect for Unity Day! In part B, Carmen speaks with Cristian about his work with the Upstanders’ Club and learns the Kids Against Bullying theme song. The Unity Episodes Educator Guide and the worksheet for this episode are linked below.

Educator Guide

Worksheet B

Have a class discussion about unity inspired by the Sesame Street video featuring Grover and Gabrielle Union explaining that unity means coming together.

Make and decorate footprints so that students can reflect on the steps they can take to create a world without bullying and leave a positive footprint. Students can create paper footprints, like those on the bulletin board below, or draw footprints with sidewalk chalk. Check out the video above or this link for directions.

Paint tiles or concrete slabs with messages of unity, kindness, acceptance, inclusion and belonging. Use the tiles to decorate a new flower bed or add to an existing flower bed.

Create a reel for social media depicting your school's activities for Unity Day!

Acacia Magnet School

Banyan Elementary School

Madroña Academy

Maple Elementary School

Unity Day Reel

Unity Day Reel

Younger kids look up to teens, and Unity Day is a great day for high school leaders to engage with younger students. High schoolers can help with an art project or role play for younger kids how to accept and include others in different situations.

Rallies are a great way to unite students schoolwide on an issue like bullying prevention. Student leaders, including those from affinity groups, should help plan the Unity Rally. The rally could feature a guest speaker or student-led activities on bullying prevention, kindness, acceptance, inclusion and how to be an ally.

Hang up a huge poster that says, "If you knew my story, you'd know that..." and give students slips of paper to write (anonymously) about things that have happened in their lives to add to the poster. This exercise can help students understand that they are united by their successes and the struggles they face. Students can also write directly on the poster. An alternative prompt might be, 'To me, UNITY means..." Or, students could sign the poster as a pledge to promote unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion.

Staff, students or clubs can host fun lunchtime activities to promote unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Check out Los Cerritos Middle School's Unity Jenga game!

Celebrate Unity Day with orange face paint and temporary tattoos with messages of unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion!

Photo booths or selfie photo frames are a fun way to invite students to show their support for unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion and their commitment to creating a world without bullying.

Set up a table with materials for students to send each other Unity Grams! For this activity, make sure no student is left out by encouraging students to send a Unity Gram to at least one person outside their usual friend group.

Have students contribute photos with signs and sayings about kindness, acceptance and inclusion or short videos of themselves talking about the meaning of Unity Day. Put them all together into a video that can be shared with the whole school and on social media.

• All students on campus are given the opportunity to paint a rock with messages of unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
  

• Parent volunteers can arrange for donation or donate rocks, paint, brushes, paint pens, paper plates to hold the rocks while painting, plastic aprons/smocks (for younger students) and plastic bins to hold the rocks for each class after they are painted. Students should add their name and the year to the bottom of their rock.

Print out or share the photos below to give students ideas for their Unity ROCKS!

Add a Dedication Rock to your installation.

• The rocks need to dry and be weatherproofed before they can be installed outside in a garden or flower bed. After painting, spread out the rocks on tarps or plastic table cloths to dry. Be sure to keep the rocks grouped together by classroom. The paint must be completely dry before applying the shellac, or the paint will smear. Parent volunteers can apply the shellac. When completely dry, store the rocks in plastic bins, with one bin per class. This will make it easy for each student to find their rock for the installation event.
  

• Once the rocks are read to install, hold an assembly to celebrate. The principal or a guest speaker can talk about the importance of uniting to prevent bullying through kindness, acceptance and inclusion. After the assembly, students can add their rocks to the Unity installation!
  



Unity ROCKS! plus a Campus Tree = School Unity Tree




Place rocks at the base of a tree to create a living Unity Tree! Students can add rocks to the Unity Tree each year.

Plant a seed of "unity" at your school by a creating a Unity Tree. It can be a powerful symbol reminding everyone that we can prevent bullying if we come together and unite for kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Each person shares their ideas and experiences by writing positive messages on leaves that are attached to the tree. Prompts are included in the linked materials.

Inspire students to use their creativity and contribute to a Unity Day Banner or create Unity Day Posters to hang up around your school.

Take group shots to share on social media of people wearing orange and promoting unity, kindness, acceptance and inclusion. One idea is to spell out a word, like Unity, with students and staff forming the letters. This is a fun and creative commUNITY-building activity. The U-N-I-T-Y photo was taken at Maple Elementary. The adorable class photo was taken at Aspen Elementary. For the big group photo at Colina Middle School, the Colina PTSA provided Unity Day shirts for every student and staff member!

Create a Unity Day banner or swag (like wristbands or t-shirts) to promote kindness, acceptance and inclusion at your school Be sure to take a photo!

Why not make Unity Day last longer? Plan a week of activities and Spirit Days to remind students of the meaning of kindness, acceptance and inclusion.

• Erin Bell, SEDAC Chair
  
• Jenny Crosby, Committee Chair, Newbury Park High School SEDAC Representative

• Lee Ann Holland, Committee Chair, SEDAC Member At Large, Colina Middle School SEDAC Representative
• Carole Shelton, SEDAC Member At Large
  

• Denise Benic, SEDAC Chair
  

• Lee Ann Holland, Committee Chair, SEDAC Parliamentarian
• Lana Clark, EARthS SEDAC Representative
• Karen Kyle, SEDAC Member At Large, Weathersfield Elementary SEDAC Representative
• Neptune Mizrahi, Cypress Elementary SEDAC Representative
• Michelle Murphy, Wildwood Elementary SEDAC Representative
• Danielle Vega, Community Member