by Ryleigh Steinmetz

Spread the Word Inclusion Day and World Down Syndrome Day are fast approaching! Spread the Word Inclusion Day is taking place on March 6th and World Down Syndrome Day is on March 21st. To celebrate Spread the Word Inclusion Day and World Down Syndrome Day at Palisades High School, the members of the Kids for Kindness Club have many events planned.

Palisades High School also has events planned for March 6th and March 21st this year. Students in the Kids for Kindness Club at Palisades have organized the events for this year regarding Inclusion Day and Down Syndrome Day. Similar to last year, there will be a banner to sign in the cafeteria during all lunches on the sixth for Inclusion Day. In addition, there will be a dress-down day for teachers and staff. For Down Syndrome Day there will be mismatched socks sold in advance for five dollars to support other Kids for Kindness Club events. Wearing the socks will help raise awareness of Down Syndrome.

Spread the Word Inclusion Day, also known as Spread the Word to End the R-word, was created by youth leaders in 2009 who were involved in Special Olympics International and Best Buddies. Now the Golisano Foundation and other platforms are challenging people worldwide to spread inclusion. Spread the Word Inclusion Day is celebrated by people and businesses across the globe. Schools, non-profits, and several other organizations take part in this day with different events to spread awareness of people not being included and people being bullied by others for their disabilities.

World Down Syndrome Day was created by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2011 and put into effect in 2012. Now the day is celebrated on the 21st of March every year to highlight the uniqueness of the extra 21st chromosome which causes Down Syndrome.  To celebrate Down Syndrome Day people wear crazy socks because chromosomes are shaped like socks. World Down Syndrome Day was created to educate others on what Down Syndrome is and to show that people with this disability need to be included in their communities.

To go along with the theme of inclusion, interviews with several students in Palisades were taken asking, “What does inclusion mean to you?” Kids for Kindness Club Member Junior Grace Martens stated that inclusion means, “Including people with or without disabilities.” Finally, Saii Reilly, a sophomore at Palisades, said that inclusion means, “Making sure people feel represented and not left out.” A senior at Palisades, Layna Transue, claimed that “Inclusion means the ability to recognize differences in other people and accommodate them without making them seem less them or more difficult than people without the same differences.” Inclusion can have many different meanings to many different people, but it is all about acceptance.

Both Spread the Word Inclusion Day and World Down Syndrome Day celebrate inclusion. However, these are not the only two events that reflect the importance of respecting others; join Kids for Kindness Club and you can practice and celebrate inclusion every day.