Every October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month. It was first recognized as the as this in the 1980s. Even though October is the awareness month, world Down syndrome day is on March 21st every year. It is March 21 because the date is 3/21 and those with Down syndrome have three copies of their twenty-first chromosome. Each year there are about 6,000 people born with Down syndrome, which is about 1 in every 700 births.

My younger sister, Maria, who is now a freshman at Lake Forest High School, has Down syndrome. For the past couple of years, my family has gotten a lawn sign to spread awareness about Down syndrome. 

Each year the sign has a different design and slogan but always has blue and yellow incorporated with it as blue and yellow are the two colors of the Down syndrome ribbon. My mom and I both post about the sign on all of our social media accounts to get the word out to everyone. It all started with just family friends coming and taking pictures, but after two years, word spread to the high school. A friend of ours got the field hockey team to come and take a picture with Maria and the sign, and from then on, other teams throughout the school have gotten involved.

The sign works when you take a picture with it and post it on whatever social media you want, and tag either me or Sarah Alzamora. After the posting, we will donate to the National Association for Down Syndrome. Throughout the month, myriad teams come and stop by to take a picture in support of Down syndrome awareness. We tally up how many people came throughout the month of October and then make one donation.

“Seeing all the teams from the high school come by to take a picture with our sign is wonderful. It means that these kids recognize the differences in other students and accept each other,” said Sarah Alzamora. 

If you want to come to the house to take a picture with Maria and the sign, you can reach out to me through social media, @bobbyalzamora