Being Advocates for Vulnerable Children: UIW Students Participate in ChildSafe’s Cardboard Kids 2025 Campaign

The UIW Dreeben School of Education prepares future educators to make a positive impact on the students they will serve. To be a teacher is more than enriching young minds with knowledge, though. It also means rising as a trusted leader who will advocate for students and their needs in order for them to be successful.

In 2014, ChildSafe, a Children’s Advocacy Center that serves the traumatized, abused and neglected children of Bexar County, started its Cardboard Kids campaign to “draw attention to the pervasiveness of child abuse and the fact that every story is different and every child unique” (childsafe-sa.org). The campaign invites residents to decorate kid-shaped pieces of cardboard and display them in visible areas throughout the city of San Antonio to help spread awareness and encourage conversations around child abuse.

This year, members of UIW’s Teacher Educations department and Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) came together to participate in the 2025 campaign. This year marks the first year that the two organizations have collaborated to participate in the campaign.

On Tuesday, March 25, students and Dreeben educators gathered for a Cardboard Kids decorating party. Utilizing art supplies including markers, glue, yarn, decorative paper and more, each student decorated vibrantly designed Cardboard Kids.

“As a former public-school teacher, the Cardboard Kids campaign was an annual event at the elementary school where I taught,” said Jo-Anne Olivarri, Teacher Education Induction Coordinator. “We invited our community to join us in creating cardboard cutouts, which sparked important conversations about awareness, child abuse prevention and the resources available to support those affected by abuse or neglect.”

Olivarri noted that by engaging in this creative activity, aspiring educators gained a better understanding of child advocacy and mandatory reporting. By participating in the campaign, she is confident that students will be able to better recognize signs of child abuse and feel prepared to intervene appropriately.

“With the career path I am following, I work directly with children,” shared Nicole Carrasco-Gil, senior Elementary Education student. “In my experience, I have seen firsthand how important it is to be their advocates if they cannot advocate for themselves. By doing the Cardboard Kids campaign, it is so important for people to know that child abuse is still actively happening, and it is happening around us. We need to speak and bring awareness to those who can't."

One the morning of Thursday, April 3, the decorated Cardboard Kids were displayed throughout the Broadway campus in locations such as the Student Engagement Center, Wellness Center, J. E. and L. E. Mabee Library and in front of the President’s office.

Olivarri noted that the Cardboard Kids campaign utilizes art to visually represent an overwhelming topic for many, allowing people in various career fields to have more approachable conversations and to become more familiar with the signs of child abuse and neglect.

“By displaying the cardboard kids around the UIW Broadway campus, we hope to spark curiosity and interest among those who find a Cardboard Kid and inspire them to learn more about ChildSafe’s mission and initiatives,” explained Olivarri. “As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child, so we invite the UIW community to join us in the conversation to spread awareness and advocate for those who are often unable to advocate for themselves.”

If people see a Cardboard Kid, ChildSafe encourages them to take photos and spread the word by posting with #CardboardKidsSA. Click here to learn more about ChildSafe and their Cardboard Kids campaign.