After she gave birth, Christina Warholak was given a stack of books and sympathetic looks follow by an “I’m sorry.” Her new born daughter had Down Syndrome -- a congenital disorder occurring when the individual has an extra copy of chromosome 21. “When they gave me the books about down syndrome, I couldn’t read them,” Christina said. “It was depressing because of all the naysay and all of the stuff about how horrible this is. I just put the books away.” The moment she put the books away was the same moment Christina said she didn’t care what the books said. Her daughter is just like everyone else. When they gave me the books about down syndrome, I couldn’t read them. It was depressing because of all the naysay and all of the stuff about how horrible this is. I just put the books away. Now, 11 years later, her daughter Serenity has proven she is just like the other kids -- and it all started with a bowling ball. Serenity started bowling as a way to spend tim
When she was seven years old, Chanell Britten was playing on a soccer team with eleven boys and one other girl. Instead of letting the boys push her around, or using it as an excuse to not play well, Britten used it as motivation to get better. “If they ran, I ran faster,” Britten said. “If they shot the ball, I shot the ball harder. It gave me the motivation to push harder and keep going.” Now, a sophomore at Brockway Area High School, Britten is showing people from all over the area what she and her family saw when she was seven years old playing with the boys. Britten currently has 66 goals in two seasons. She finished her freshman year with a team high 24 goals, including one in the last 20 minutes of the District 9 Championship game. While she usually puts her goals behind her after they happen, Britten remembers that one. After receiving a pass from her teammate, Britten made a move on her defender and was able to take the ball to the 30-yard-line where