From model legislation to state proclamation, how April became Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month in Arkansas

Brandon Ringo
·1 min read
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – When Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a proclamation that April 2024 be Parkinson’s Disease Awareness month in the Natural State, it was an idea proposed not by state lawmakers, but by students.

The idea initially came from Robert Killebrew, a social studies teacher from Harrisburg and member of the Academy for Public Service’s Arkansas Model Senate whose father died of Parkinson’s.

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After the resolution was approved unanimously by members of the Arkansas Model House of Representatives and Arkansas Model Senate, Romerse Biddle, Chief Executive Officer of the Academy for Public Service, decided to submit to the governor’s office.

Biddle said that the proclamation not only helps make Arkansans aware of the disease, but it also becomes an educational moment.

“I was excited that it became an actual proclamation. Robert was much more excited and emotional about it because it was personal to him and he’s never done anything with government,” Biddle said. “This is something he can actually give a lesson about in his Civics class.”

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Biddle said that over 5,000 Arkansans are affected by the disease, and he hopes this proclamation will spread awareness to know the signs of the disease and educate those with family and friends affected.

“Things like what our students are doing and reporting about Parkinson’s will help to spread awareness of Parkinson’s and to know the signs of the disease, and may get people off the sidelines and involved,” Biddle stated. “This also educates people of the experiences of how family and friends cope with loved ones with Parkinson’s.”

For more information about the Arkansas Model Senate, visit AcademyForPublicService.org. To learn more about Parkinson’s Awareness Month, visit Parkinson.org.

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