Lakeland Regional High School comes together to celebrate and raise awareness for World Down Syndrome day.
What is World Down Syndrome Day?
World Down Syndrome Day has been a globally observed awareness day since 2012. The goal of the day is to help people better understand Down syndrome, and how a person can support an individual with the disability. It is celebrated on March 21, the 21st day of the third month, to represent the trisomy mutation on the 21st chromosome that causes down syndrome.
How is Lakeland Participating?
Lakeland’s school community is celebrating by wearing blue and yellow to support World Down Syndrome Day. Ms. Jamie Haftek-Shopshear, teacher of students with disabilities who helps run the LRHS’ CORE Program, promoted the day through emails and announcements.
Ms. Haftek-Shopshear shared that blue and yellow are the official colors for Down syndrome awareness. The meaning behind these color choices is that blue stands for acceptance while yellow represents hope and positivity. Both colors actively brighten people’s days. Ms. Haftek-Shopshear also shared that wearing brightly colored or mismatched socks is a way to support the day, “as chromosomes look like socks under a microscope.”
Visit WorldDownSyndromeDay.org to learn more about how you can support the cause and take action.
