Northport Honors September as Sickle Cell Awareness Month

Northport K-8 School honors and supports all who are fighting the courageous battle against Sickle Cell Disease this month. Awareness as a school community is being raised by instructor, Marie Solide whose daughter Kookie died of Sickle Cell Anemia very recently. On October 8, Northport community will wear red clothing and donate to the cause by purchasing bracelets in honor of the many lives lost. The proceeds of the purchase of the bracelet will be presented to Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Anemia in the name of Northport K-8 School and Kookie. According to the Center for Disease Control, there are about 90,000 to 100,00 Americans affected by the disease, mostly African Americans and those of Greek, Hispanic and Western Asian ancestry. Northport will celebrate the life of Kookie and the hundreds of thousand of other lives lost to this tragic disease in support of Mrs. Solide who is a beloved teacher at the school on that day! Sickle Cell Disease is the most common genetic disorder in the United States and is chronic, but not contagious and can be very treatable. For more information, please contact Marie Solide at marie.solide@stlucieschools.org. Pictured is Mrs. Solide presenting information on Sickle Cell Disease to Ellen Weiss’s sixth grade science class. Students were highly engaged in the cell study and the heartbreaking story of Marie Solide and her families fight against Sickle Cell.