A special celebration for National Down Syndrome Day will take place for the very first time Thursday, March 21 at Platte County High School.
Compass Elementary School Assistant Principal Allison Page and Platte County School Board member, Karen Bryant are working in partnership with the Platte County School District on the planning for the event.
When Allison Page’s daughter, Molly, was born in 2022 with a birth diagnosis of Down Syndrome, the family became advocates for all individuals with Down Syndrome. They also became drawn to celebrating National Down Syndrome Day.
The 21st of March (third month of the year) was chosen to raise awareness of Down Syndrome, due to the fact that most individuals with Down Syndrome have three, of their 21st chromosome, and to signify the uniqueness of the chromosome triplication.
World Down Syndrome Day is a global awareness day that has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012.
Bryant and Page are partnering with the Special Olympics from Platte County High School and they believe the event will be a good way to get students and parents together in support of people with Down Syndrome.
“We are celebrating this holiday as outside partners with the school district,” Page said. “I live in the community I work for, so I am sponsoring this as a citizen, in partnership with the school district. Karen and I truly want this to be a collaborative community-wide event celebrating Down Syndrome, yes, but also celebrating the entire community of individuals born unique and amazing.”
The event will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the new gym inside the high school. The public is encouraged to attend. There will be a 3.21 mile-walk. Food will be donated by Tyson Foods, water and chips from Price Chopper and local Masons will be doing the grilling. The local balloon troop in Platte City will create balloon animals for the kids.
The walk is planned not only to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, but also to raise awareness and show support for students with the syndrome.
“On this day, world-wide, people walk 3.21 miles to raise awareness for individuals born with Down Syndrome. National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS.org) is a great organization and has promoted this idea for years,” Page said.
Crazy Sock Day will be the theme for the event and attendees are encouraged to wear socks that don’t match.
“The idea behind mismatched sock day is that your socks represent the chromosomes that everyone has,” Page said. “When you wear them mismatched, it signifies that individuals with Down Syndrome may have an extra one that does not match what everyone else may have. When we wear mismatched socks on 3/21, it shows everyone you support all individuals with Down Syndrome. These ideas have been around for decades. I just wanted to bring them to the light here in our amazing community.”
This is Page’s second year as assistant principal at Compass.
“We have lived in this community since 2019. I was at Compass as a para however in 2019 when we moved from Virginia Beach, Va., until May 2019 and I was given a job as an Assistant Principal in the Park Hill School District. However, when a job became available in my community, I came back home.”
Bryant has been serving on the school board since 2021. Her community service has included being a fund raiser for local charities and she believes serving on the school board is just another way to give back to the place she and her family call home.
Working with students on a daily basis is one of the favorite parts of Page’s job.
“I love how each student is unique and different and made to become something amazing in their lives. We (myself included) are just lucky enough to be a part of it.”
One in 600 children are born with Down Syndrome yearly. Page is amazed at how little she knew about people with Down Syndrome before her daughter Molly was born, and she hopes to help end the stereotypes associated with it.
“I am ashamed really of how little I knew. I even knew someone before Molly that has Down Syndrome. I think people don’t know what they don’t know. I would love to raise awareness so people know and can understand and advocate for these individuals. They can do whatever they want! Just because they were born this way, doesn’t mean they are any less capable than another. People with Down Syndrome may have atypical timelines for growth and development than a ‘traditional’ or ‘typical’ child. However, different doesn’t always equal bad. Different just means different. There is nothing genetically about how or even why an individual is born with Down Syndrome. Nothing the mother or father does or has, impacts the birth of a child with Down Syndrome. It’s honestly just a blessing and we call ourselves ‘The Lucky Few.’”
While the term ‘inclusivity’ is used frequently, Page believes it is misunderstood.
“To be inclusive is to be, well, included,” Page said. “Seems simple, yet most people, whether they want to believe it or not, have an unconscious bias towards individuals with Down Syndrome. Where that comes from could be upbringing, society, school even. I don’t know the answer to that. What I do know, is to be inclusive, including these students in regular education classes as much as we can is the way to start.”
Offering programming choices for students with Down Syndrome and other so called disabilities as much as possible within the school-setting is also an important part of the solution for Page.
“You can start by treating individuals with Down Syndrome like one would a typical individual. Most individuals with Down Syndrome grow up to lead what we call ‘normal’ lives. They live on their own, sometimes yes, with a caretaker once in a while, but they live, work for a living and have a family.”
While there are many common myths and misrepresentations about people with Down Syndrome that result in untrue and unfair stereotypes, most of these individuals grow up to live normal lives. Many attend college and go to career technical schools.
Part of the unconscious bias about people with Down Syndrome is that when they see someone with the syndrome, they are always happy.
“This is untrue,” Page said. “Individuals with Down Syndrome have the same mood-swings as you and I. Some may have speech difficulties, some may have muscle difficulties - we call this ‘low tone’. All of these difficulties are due to the extra 21st chromosome. But again, different doesn’t mean not capable or bad. It just means something different. We as a society need to be intentional about changing our unconscious bias when we interact with individuals born with Down Syndrome.”
She and Bryant are excited about the upcoming event on National Down Syndrome Day and the opportunity to raise awareness and understanding.
“People don’t know what they don’t know,” Page said. “Many people feel they don’t need to know because they don’t have a child or know anyone with Down Syndrome. However, you never know. You cannot predict your life or the lives of those around you. I want others to be aware and know the amazing blessing people with Down Syndrome are and what they can do. They are just as amazing as you and I.”