Gov. Tony Evers and the Department of Health Services (DHS) today announced the launch of Keeping Kids Safe and In School, a statewide multimedia campaign that focuses on ways to keep Wisconsin children healthy and in the classroom. This campaign is an extension of the broader You Stop the Spread campaign which has been running in Wisconsin since September 2020.

“We’re working to make sure our schools have the tools and resources to keep kids, educators, and staff healthy and in the classroom,” said Gov. Evers. “We know in-person learning is the best way to educate our kids, and by making sure that kids, families, and folks in our schools can take steps to get the COVID-19 vaccine and have the resources to help prevent the spread, we can help provide a safe environment to keep our kids in school.”

Keeping Kids Safe and In School raises awareness and promotes good public health safety practices for school-aged children and their families, including:

  • Getting children 5 and older vaccinated.
  • Wearing a well-fitting mask at school as well as other public, indoor spaces.
  • And staying home from school when sick.

It will also include videos from Wisconsin doctors urging vaccination in children, building off of the previous Our Doctors multimedia campaign.

Keeping Kids Safe and In School, like You Stop the Spread, uses a combination of traditional media and social media channels. Wisconsinites will see the messaging on television, transit, and local newspapers. The campaign will utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Snapchat.

Keeping Kids Safe and In School campaign also includes two new toolkits to help parents, guardians, and local community leaders promote public health best practices in their own community schools and school districts. DHS encourages Wisconsinites to use these materials in their own efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“The Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Wisconsin, and we are witnessing rapid transmission and rising case numbers, especially in kids under 18,” said DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake. “We recommend parents and schools use all the tools in our toolbox to stop the spread of COVID-19. If we can all work together to stop the spread, we can keep schools open safely and keep kids learning.”

As the Omicron variant continues to surge through Wisconsin, children under 18 years old continue to represent the highest number of new confirmed cases. This age group also represents more than one-fifth of new confirmed cases since the end of August 2021. The Keeping Kids Safe and In School campaign is the most recent DHS effort to continue supporting classroom learning while prioritizing the health and safety of students, teachers, and staff at districts across the state. For more information on resources available to schools, see our news release issued on January 10, 2022.

For up-to-date information about Wisconsin’s COVID-19 response, visit the DHS COVID-19 webpage, and follow @DHSWI on Facebook(link is external)Twitter(link is external), or dhs.wi on Instagram(link is external) for more information on COVID-19.

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