Chapel Haven Schleifer Center celebrated #worlddownsyndromeawarenessday Friday, March 21, 1-3 p.m. with a well-attended Rock Your Socks for Down Syndrome Awareness celebration.

Participants decorated “socks” which were displayed in Outreach, performed on an open mic and took part in a sock fashion parade.

The event, co-sponsored by the Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut, was timed to coincide with World Down Syndrome Day, celebrated  on March 21 every year. It is a global awareness day which has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. The goal is to help people understand and support those with Down syndrome better.

The date being the 21st day of the 3rd month was chosen to represent the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome.

We were joined by Keith McGilvery, anchor with Fox61 News, and Shanon McCormick, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut.

The event drew media coverage, including:

Art Director Tina Menchetti and two adults (Marc Piccolo and Carolyn Henderson) appeared on Fox61 Live with Keith to promote World Down Syndrome Day.

The students joined Keith in decorating socks and talked about what Down Syndrome means to them. Tina shared information on Chapel Haven’s art programs and noted that many adults at CHSC with Down Syndrome have robust, independent lives.

View the coverage here

NBC-CT also covered the event. View the story here

And Keith attended the event and produced a second story for the Fox61 evening news. You can view that story here