MAHONING TOWNSHIP -- Six-year-old twin brothers from Carbon County are both living with Down syndrome. Classmates joined them in spreading a message of acceptance Monday as part of World Down Syndrome Day. Their entire school showed them support.
Students at Mahoning Elementary near Lehighton, came to school wearing red shirts and funky socks to celebrate two of their classmates.
Those cool and cute kids are Shane and Wyatt. Their parents bought shirts for everyone in the school and encouraged everyone to "be different" like Shane and Wyatt by wearing funky socks.
"This is an opportunity to advocate for all individuals who have Down syndrome or even special needs," said Eric Waksmunski, the twins' father.
Eric Waksmunski and his wife were hoping to help these elementary students learn how to be more accepting of people who have Down syndrome, or people who may seem a little different. But they quickly realized their affectionate kindergartners may have already taught that lesson.
"I had boy come up to me today. Where he asked me if I was Shane and Wyatt's dad. And when I said I was, he said, 'You know Shane and Wyatt are really cool kids.'"
"We are all different in different ways, but I think they are pretty cool kids. They are probably the awesome-est kids I've ever seen," said fourth grader Teagan Harrington.
"Just because they're a little bit different, that doesn't mean you should treat them bad," second grader Morgan Shaffer said.
These elementary students hope Shane and Wyatt can show more people how being different can be a good thing, a thing we are more accepting of.