RAISING AWARENESS
Wearing silly socks helps bring Down syndrome to the forefront
Glace Bay students wear “silly socks” for awareness on Down syndrome.
A group of students are encouraging the public to put on their silliest socks on Friday.
Rebecca MacMullin, a student at Oceanview Education Centre in Glace Bay and a member of the school’s Me to We group, said silly socks are being sold as part the Down Syndrome Day celebration.
“It’s important to spread awareness on Down syndrome, everyone needs to be treated equally.”
Valerie Livingstone, facilitator of the Me to We group, said silly sock day was planned to coincide with National Down Syndrome Day on March 21 but when bad weather led to school cancellations, the local event was postponed.
She said it is hoped that those wearing silly socks will be asked, “Why are you wearing silly socks?”
“Then you would use that opportunity to bring up World Down Syndrome Day and advocate for people with Down syndrome and promote the campaign.
“You become a voice for them to make a difference.”
Livingstone said Oceanview student and Me to We group member Faith MacPherson has Down syndrome.
“She’s just another girl in the group and that’s how she should be treated,” Livingstone said.
Livingstone said some students with disabilities might not, for example, be able to join certain sports teams. However she added there are many different groups and clubs in the school and there’s something for everyone.
“Students might be in all different grades and have different interests and be different academically but all fit into our Me to We group,” she said.
She said a school needs to be about more than academics, it must also be a place to make friends and socialize.
“We sell crafts … as a fundraiser and Faith is just one the girls who helps.”
Hope McInnis, a member of Me to We, said they are hoping people will buy silly socks and help bring attention to Down syndrome.
Meghan McIntyre hopes everyone will wear silly or colourful socks on Friday in support of the campaign.
Faith’s mother Darlene MacPherson said the members of Me to We are very good to her daughter.
“They are very accepting and actually so is the whole school.”
She said it is great the group is doing the silly sock project as more people need to be aware that people with a disability such as Down syndrome are capable of doing anything.
“Faith, as a member of the Me to We group, shows people with Down syndrome are capable of being involved in community activities,” she said.
“Some think people with Down syndrome aren’t capable of doing anything and that their disability holds them back but it doesn’t.”
MacPherson takes hip-hop classes from Kyle Hunter in Dominion and ballet lessons from the D&R Dance Studios on the Northside.
“It’s people like Kyle Hunter and at D&R Dance that offer the encouragement needed that make a difference,” said her mom.
“There’s also the people like Valerie Livingstone at the school that get these programs going like the Me to We.”
“Valerie is wonderful, she really is.
MacPherson said her daughter is a caring person who loves to travel and she has been invited to a Me to We camp in Arizona, which she may attend.
To purchase a pair of silly socks telephone the school at 902-842-4488.
Me to We provides socially responsible products and services and donates half of its net profits to its non-profit partner WE Charity, formerly known as Free The Children. It is also part of the WE network of organizations.
“Faith, as a member of the Me to We group, shows people with Down syndrome are capable of being involved in community activities.” Valerie Livingstone, facilitator,
Me to We group