\njbrines@kenoshanews.com<\/em><\/p>\n
Lincoln Middle School on Wednesday once again became the epicenter of goodwill in the face of bullying.<\/p>\n
Desiree Andrews, her cheer leading squad and the Lincoln Knights basketball team now known for stepping in to stop bullies from the stands were all celebrated at the school, fresh off national media appearances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese boys stood up for her, and we can\u2019t be more proud of them,\u201d<\/em> Desiree\u2019 solder sister Haley said. \u201cThey absolutely deserve all our attention that they are getting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Linda Lee, president of Generation Against Bullying, presented Desiree and the team with their own medals as a model for the nation on bullying.<\/p>\n Armed with statistics on how to stop bullying in the first 10 seconds, she also had advice for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cBe kind to everyone out there because everyone is struggling with something,\u201d<\/em> Lee said.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/gabnow.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Lincoln-1-featrured.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text – Image Credits” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”center” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” text_font=”||on||” text_font_size=”13″]<\/p>\n KENOSHA NEWS PHOTO Desiree Andrews shows a medal she and the Lincoln Middle School cheer team and basketball team were given from Generation Against Bullying during an assembly Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video admin_label=”Video” src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/7DGk7kKOxjM” image_src=”\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7DGk7kKOxjM\/hqdefault.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Surge of attention<\/strong><\/p>\n Kenosha Unified School District Superintendent Sue Savaglio-Jarvis said the attention has been bigger than a championship win.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are starting to see we\u2019re not going to tolerate a bully,\u201d Savaglio-Jarvis said. \u201cThis is proof that the Lincoln basketball team and cheerleaders have The players who left the court during a timeout to tell someone in the crowd to stop teasing their cheerleader with Down syndrome was a message now echoing nationwide.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were talking about her. It\u2019s not right. It surprised a lot of people. But if you see someone being bullied, stand up because more likely somebody else is going to stand up with you,\u201d<\/em> player Benjamin Clark said.<\/p>\n Celebrated for their humbleness, point guard Dateran Adams said, \u201cThe attention is great, but it really doesn\u2019t matter to us. I think Desiree should have more.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Clark\u2019s mother, Patricia Woods-Clark, was beaming with pride at the school assembly as firefighters, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, county and school officials and even officials from the Milwaukee Bucks and Kenosha Kingfish arrived to present gifts and honors for Andrews and her teams.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is so much bullying going around, not only in schools but workplaces,\u201d<\/em> Woods-Clark said. \u201cTime out is what they said, and I\u2019m so proud to have a child that\u2019s part of that team. Everybody should have a fair chance to be accepted. Lincoln Middle School has set the mark.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Last year\u2019s incident<\/strong><\/p>\n Woods-Clark said the bullies in question should not be punished but re-directed in a positive way. Officials from Unified declined to disclose details of how the kids in question were addressed after the incident last year.<\/p>\n Unified has experienced a number of high-profile bullying incidents over the last few years<\/em>, Savaglio-Jarvis said, and an anti-bullying committee is making things better<\/em>. She said a new policy will be implemented next school year.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe want every child safe in their school environment so they can learn,\u201d<\/em> Savaglio-Jarvis said.<\/p>\n Desiree\u2019s message<\/strong><\/p>\n Andrews sat centerstage up front next to her squad. She smiled, waved and gave people thumbs up and said \u201cthank you\u201d<\/em> one more time to the basketball team. After the assembly, she had a simpler message for the people who tell her they don\u2019t like her.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s OK,\u201d<\/em> Andrews said. \u201cI love them anyway.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Her sister wanted everyone to know that people with Down syndrome should be embraced.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are living, friendly and inviting people,\u201d <\/em>Haley said. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid of them. They are going to love you and invite you anywhere.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text – Event Photos” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n Generations Against Bullying honors Lincoln Middle School’s Desiree, the basketball and cheer team for standing up to bullies.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http:\/\/gabnow.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Lincoln-1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BY JON BRINES jbrines@kenoshanews.com Lincoln Middle School on Wednesday once again became the epicenter of goodwill in the face of bullying. Desiree Andrews, her cheer leading squad and the Lincoln Knights basketball team now known for stepping in to stop bullies from the stands were all celebrated at the school, fresh off national media appearances. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":9636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
\nBY BILL SIEL<\/p>\n
\nmade a difference in the life of one individual but have impacted so many right now.\u201d<\/p>\nEvent Photos<\/h1>\n
![](\"http:\/\/gabnow.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/kenosha-news-header1.jpg\")
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