In an effort to motivate adolescents to form respectful relationships, the San Antonio Silver Stars along with The Rape Crisis Center for Children & Adults and Family Violence Prevention Services, have announced the beginning of their Choose Respect initiative, presented by Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

Silver Stars center Chantelle Anderson and Coach Hughes will visit Edgewood ISD’s E.T. Wrenn Middle School, 627 S. Acme Rd., at 2:15 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, to talk to 450 sixth and seventh grade students about healthy, respectful relationships.

Each student will receive a T-shirt and two tickets to the Silver Stars’ May 25 game vs. Los Angeles, while one lucky student will win an I-Pod Nano.

According to Alison Fox, Spurs Sports & Entertainment vice president of community relations, "Our Choose Respect kickoff is a great opportunity to encourage positive action on the part of youth in San Antonio to help them discover the power of self-respect and self-esteem. By joining together we can raise awareness locally about the importance of healthy, respectful relationships."

“The Rape Crisis Center and Family Violence Prevention Services is so pleased to be community partners with the Silver Stars in this initiative,” said M. Lynn Blanco, executive director. “The information and tools we’ll be giving students, parents and teachers will be a great way to incorporate the message of Choose Respect.”

Anderson and Hughes’ visit to E.T. Wrenn Middle School launches the Choose Respect program, which will run all season and during the 2006-2007 school year. Throughout the season, 50 children and guests will attend every Silver Stars’ weekend game as part of the “Choose Respect” section.

The Silver Stars activities are in partnership with Choose Respect, an initiative to help adolescents, ages 11 to 14, form healthy relationships to prevent dating abuse before it starts. This national effort, launched by the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), is designed to motivate adolescents to take steps to form respectful relationships.

Throughout the summer of 2006, CDC will work with community agencies in ten cities Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Phoenix, San Antonio, Topeka and Washington D.C. to bring the message of respect to the nation’s youth. Each Choose Respect community will create diverse educational opportunities to motivate adolescents and parents to Choose Respect using online games and interactive learning tools; television and radio spots; activity ideas; streaming video clips and clickable quizzes.

For more information on Choose Respect go to www.chooserespect.org.