School District of Washington

Washington High School Child Development Class Welcomes Guest Speaker

Posted on 05/10/2022

Kristen Perriman’s Child Development I class at Washington High School welcomed a guest speaker on Monday, May 9.

The guest speaker was Jamie Gallo, who spoke about motherhood and Down syndrome. Gallo brought with her three of her children and spoke to the class about her experience of being a mother of five. Three of her children are under five years of age and one has Down syndrome.

In every cell in the human body there is a nucleus, where genetic material is stored in genes. Genes carry the codes responsible for all of our inherited traits and are grouped along rod-like structures called chromosomes. Typically, the nucleus of each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, half of which are inherited from each parent. Down syndrome occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.

This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome. A few of the common physical traits of Down syndrome are low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the center of the palm – although each person with Down syndrome may possess these characteristics to different degrees, or not at all.

Photos from the event in the Child Development I class are below.