World Down Syndrome Day to be celebrated at Sierra House Elementary

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Students and staff at Sierra House Elementary School in South Lake Tahoe will be rocking crazy socks on Tuesday in honor of World Down Syndrome Day and their three students who have Down Syndrome.

Tuesday, March 21 is National Down Syndrome Day, and Sierra House Elementary is celebrating its three students with Down Syndrome, David Munguia Reyes, who is in the third grade, and fourth graders Micah Cooley and Dylan Polan.

Sierra House is the only Lake Tahoe Unified School District to have a special day class for these students. Their teacher Chris Cromwell said the other teachers, students, and staff at the school are very accepting of these three students and reach out with open arms.

When Cromwell arrived at Sierra House the school didn't have a Buddy Program like upper grades so he started one where 4th and 5th graders become helpers, mentors, and friends of David, Micah, and Dylan. These buddies stop by Cromwell's classroom to pick them up for recess, for library time, take them to other classes, and invite them to hang out with the buddy's friends. At this time there are 21 buddies at Sierra House Elementary.

The Buddy Program continues at South Tahoe Middle School and South Tahoe High School so the kindness continues. The buddies continue in the upper grades and help the Down Syndrome students with the transition.

Cromwell said the other teachers invite his students into their regular education classes as well.

Tuesday, March 21 is Crazy Sock Day at Sierra House. Everyone is invited to wear their craziest socks or even mismatched ones in honor of the special day. People celebrate in a lot of ways, but one fun and easy way is to wear your crazy socks. The World Down Syndrome Day people answered the question, why socks? When looking at a karyotype (a picture of our chromosomes, stained for viewing under a microscope), the chromosomes look like paired socks. The staining makes them look striped. Some folks even wear an extra sock to represent the extra chromosome. Another reason for wearing mismatched socks is to promote the celebration of differences. Some buddies wear the same set of mismatched socks to also point out that we are more alike than different. Students and staff show their love and support for others by wearing crazy socks.

The 21st day of March was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. Every year on March 21, World Down Syndrome Day is observed to create awareness about Down syndrome.