Teens design “Respect…we all measure up!” Rulers for Elementary Students

Date: September 29, 2009

2,500 rulers with the message “Respect…we all measure up!” will be distributed statewide to Colorado elementary school children in October.  The rulers -- made from eco-friendly recycled wood -- were designed by twenty teens who participated in ADL’s 10th Annual Robert B. Sturm Youth Leadership mission to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where they examined the consequences of hatred and bigotry.

Upon their return to Colorado, the teens, representing seventeen high schools throughout the Mountain States Region, developed the ruler project as a way to pass on the lessons they learned on the mission.  As one delegate said, the teens designed the ruler to “impact the people of this generation” to “measure the respect that is given by all.”

Since 1998, local businessman Robert B. Sturm has generously underwritten ADL's Robert B. Sturm Youth Leadership Mission, which takes a group of diverse teens on a three and a half day intense learning experience to Washington, D.C., and includes a visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  After returning home, the teens develop projects to spread their knowledge with their communities.