Los Fresnos ISD Raising Awareness for ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

In July and August of this year the ALS Association and its 38 chapters have received over $4 million in donations due in no small part to the #IceBucketChallege, a social network campaign that urges participants to douse themselves with a bucketful of cold ice water on camera, challenging others to do the same, in an effort to raise awareness and donations for ALS.

Several staff and educators from the Los Fresnos School district participated in the challenge this week, including teachers from A.L. Villarreal Elementary, pictured above.