{"id":8807,"date":"2019-03-04T10:30:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T15:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=8807"},"modified":"2019-03-13T10:56:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T14:56:23","slug":"salem-student-brings-spotlight-to-rare-disease-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/salem-student-brings-spotlight-to-rare-disease-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Salem student brings spotlight to Rare Disease Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside the schola at Salem High School, not one, but two special proclamations were read March 1 as part of a special Rare Disease Awareness event. The first state proclamation read by Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer acknowledged Rare Disease Week and encouraged continued research into the more than 7,000 diseases that afflict roughly 25-30 million Americans each year.<\/p>\n

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The second proclamation was a bit more personal for the Salem High School community.<\/p>\n

It was a special proclamation announcing Feb. 28 to be further known as Dante Herrera Day in Virginia Beach.<\/p>\n

Herrera, a Salem sophomore, was diagnosed with Batten Disease, a rare and fatal disease that has symptoms including seizures, dementia and loss of motor skills like walking and talking.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe here at Salem know Dante well,\u201d said Salem High School Principal Matt Delaney. \u201cHis spirit, fierce determination and infectious smile are legendary in these halls. He has not only made an impact on his classmates, he has also personally touched the lives and hearts of his teachers as well as the staff here at Salem High School.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the hourlong ceremony, photos of Herrera were shown on the screen along with facts on Rare Disease Week. In addition, as part of a special presentation, State Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler gave Herrera the state flag that was flown over the capital in honor of him earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

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As part of his remarks, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence lauded Herrera\u2019s work in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a celebration, a chance for us to revel in all that is possible in life,\u201d Spence shared. \u201cToday, we, together, get to say that a rare disease diagnosis does not mean the end of hope…Just earlier (Herrera) was working with classmates and engaging in new learning opportunities perfectly tailored for him. It is our personal mission to ensure Dante – and other students just like him \u2013 never have their educational path or future opportunities diminished because of a diagnosis or a disability.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Herrera\u2019s mother, Marlo Dean, brought special blue denim \u201cgenes ribbon\u201d from Global Genes Allies in Rare Disease and thanked attendees for their support of her son and his cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really emotional time for me as well,\u201d Dean said. \u201cI realized a long time ago this was far greater than Dante. It spans the globe\u2026I am so thankful for you all to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Throughout the ceremony and all of the special presentations and proclamations, the common theme remained of Herrera and the joy he brings to friends, family and classmates each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of you may know we have a saying here at Salem, and that is, \u2018It\u2019s a Great Day to be a SunDevil,\u201d Delaney said. \u201cYou see, Dante proves to us all that each day is not only a great day, but it\u2019s a gift that should be treasured.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside the schola at Salem High School, not one, but two special proclamations were read March 1 as part of a special Rare Disease Awareness event. The first state proclamation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[166],"class_list":["post-8807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections","tag-salem-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8807"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8818,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8807\/revisions\/8818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}