Noah Schultz wore his ‘Class of 2025’ hoodie in a photo that will be displayed on a Times Square Jumbotron in the National Down Syndrome Society presentation. Courtesy photo

Altoona teenager Noah Schultz will be featured on two Jumbotron screens in Times Square this weekend.

Noah’s photo will be included in the annual National Down Syndrome Society Times Square Video Presentation on Saturday, Sept. 6. The presentation will feature 500-plus photographs of people with down syndrome in an hour-long video.

“He was grinning ear to ear” when he saw his face on a news clip following his accomplishment, said his mother, Anita Conte-Schultz.

Noah, 19, is known as an easy-going, friendly and smiling kid, Conte-Schultz said. The picture of him wearing a Class of 2025 hoodie will appear in the video presentation.

Locally, he can prove that people with down syndrome can do the same things his peers do, like graduate high school, she said.

Although he walked at graduation in May, he still attends Altoona Area High School in a program that is made available for students with mental disabilities, life skills teacher Paige Matteson said.

During a social studies course in class, she also showed the news clip to her students, to which Matteson said Noah was “beaming.”

“It makes me so happy for him” that he gets the chance to showcase what people with down syndrome can do, she said.

Noah’s photo was chosen from 2,600 photo entries.

About 95% of people featured in the presentation are “first timers,” said Director of Communications and Marketing for National Down Syndrome Society Michelle Sagan, adding that they “prioritize individuals who haven’t been chosen before.”

When his family got an email notification about being selected, they got “emotional,” Conte-Schultz said.

“It’s not everyday you’re going to see your son’s face on a Jumbotron in New York City,” she said.

The video presentation kicks off the New York City Buddy Walk, which is a 1-mile walk at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park.

“There are so many misconceptions surrounding down syndrome and what they can and can’t do,” so this walk serves as a reminder “that inclusion makes us all better,” Sagan said.

Although Noah and Conte-Schultz will not be in attendance at New York City to see his photo in person, Conte-Schultz said they will be watching it on the livestream available on the National Down Syndrome Society’s Facebook page.

She said Noah’s photo will show that people with down syndrome “are more like everyone than they are not.”

“We’re very proud of him,” she said.

The livestream will be on the National Down Syndrome Society Facebook page from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.