{"id":290561,"date":"2023-05-10T10:45:10","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T15:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=290561"},"modified":"2023-05-09T21:37:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T02:37:13","slug":"down-syndrome-mentoring-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-mentoring-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania high school’s Down syndrome mentoring program makes big impact"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

In the last month alone, individuals with Down syndrome competed on Britain\u2019s Got Talent<\/a>, starred in a Disney+ feature film<\/a>, and were represented for the first time with a Barbie doll<\/a>. In March, James Martin became the first person with Down syndrome to win an Academy Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But a bit closer to home, so to speak, a Pennsylvania high school is doing its part to integrate students with Down syndrome with their peers. In the fall of 2022, Archbishop Carroll High School<\/a> in Radnor, Pennsylvania, launched a peer mentoring program for students with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

Freshman Michael Schuller was the inaugural participant. During Michael\u2019s eighth grade year, several people reached out to Archbishop Carroll Principal Bill Gennaro about the possibility of him attending school there. The mentoring program was born from that need.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, Michael has partnered with eight upperclassmen, one for each class of the school day. Senior Twyla Krebs assists Michael with his favorite class \u2014\u00a0algebra. She found that he needed minimal accommodations, like a slightly larger font and \u201cmaybe one or two less word problems… other than that, we do the exact same thing,\u201d she says, as his peers without disabilities.<\/p>\n

And, indeed, Michael sounds like any other teen when asked his favorite thing about high school. Without hesitation, he answered, \u201cfriends.\u201d One of his favorite hobbies is playing the video game Fortnite.<\/p>\n

\"Walgreens<\/a><\/p>\n

Senior Brooke Quigley is another of Michael\u2019s peer mentors. She spoke to the benefits she\u2019s reaped from their time together, saying, \u201cI think I\u2019ll definitely look at this time as something that put me out of my comfort zone, but it helped me become a better person and understand more of the world around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peer mentor and senior Domenic Venini shared the lasting impact his time with Michael has had. \u201cMichael has become my built-in best friend, like I\u2019ve known him for years, but it\u2019s been seven months,” he said. “Obviously, leaving\u2019s gonna be sad, but I\u2019ve already made it my goal every time I\u2019m coming home from college, I will be coming right back here to see him. Going out into the real world and seeing Michael grow, it\u2019s gonna be good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already, students have applied to be peer mentors for the 2023-2024 school year, and discussions are in the works for current elementary students in the local area to become future participants. The Archbishop Carroll High School peer mentoring program is one of several options in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia<\/a> for students with special needs.<\/p>\n

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In the last month alone, individuals with Down syndrome competed on Britain\u2019s Got Talent, starred in a Disney+ feature film, and were represented for the first time with a Barbie doll. In March, James Martin became the first person with Down syndrome to win an Academy Award. But a bit closer to home, so to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":635,"featured_media":290651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[20013,20005,20004,20011,20018,20017,20007,6320,20006,429,2510,20015,20010,20009,20012,639,20014,20016,20008],"yoast_head":"\nPennsylvania high school's Down syndrome mentoring program makes big impact<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Down syndrome peer mentoring program has been launched in Philadelphia-area Catholic high school, and it's making a positive difference for many.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/down-syndrome-mentoring-high-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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