Union High tree spreads the word about respect and inclusion

Camas — Union High School came out on top of a friendly three-school contest to decorate the Christmas trees in banquet spaces at the Red Lion Hotel Vancouver at the Quay. What’s extra cool about this is that all tree decorators, families, school staff, Red Lion staff and others got to vote on the winner, and they chose Union for its great decorating job as well as its theme, “Respect and Unity.” The tree was part of a campaign called “Spread the Word to End the Word,” which is all about respect for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more at r-word.org. The winning team was to get a school dance party at the Red Lion. But the Union team, from the Evergreen school district, has chosen to use the space to host a countywide social event in spring 2014 for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.