Golden Avenue Public School was a sea of blue yesterday, as students and staff celebrated World Autism Awareness Day by wearing blue and kicking off a month of activities.

A flag raising ceremony was held yesterday, where Lesleigh Dye, the Director of Education for the District School Board Ontario Northeast was joined by Autism classroom teachers Andrew Wray and Joanne Blakey and some smaller helpful hands (Adam, Jacob, Aiden, Nora and Tyrese). The flag raising was followed by a walk through the community to promote Autism Awareness with students, teachers and parents.

 

 

Golden Avenue P.S. shows tremendous support for Autism Awareness and the needs of students with Autism in the school. Of the 197 students at Golden Ave. P.S., over 30 have Autism. The needs of the students are supported with 6 specialized Autism Program classrooms. 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism and Golden Avenue’s Autism Program continues to grow as the disorder gains more attention around the world.

Golden Avenue P.S. has a full month of activities ahead to celebrate Autism Awareness month in April, including hot dog lunches and themed days. The money raised from the events go towards special activities for the students, and towards a donation to Autism Ontario.

Students will get to dress up and dress down for the themed days planned. Kids can come to school in their PJ’s for Pajama Day this Friday, April 6th. Next Friday the kids can dress up as their favorite super hero, athlete or celebrity for Fan Day. And on April 20th the students can come to school with crazy hair or a crazy hat for Crazy Hair/Hat Day. The school will organize a special extended recess to thank the students and staff.

It’s clear from their enthusiasm and the activities helping keep the topic fresh for the month of April, that Golden Avenue P.S. is doing all it can to support Autism Awareness and the students in their specialized classrooms who benefit from the Autism Program.