Monfredo: Honoring Our Unsung Heroes This Week, Our Teachers and Nurses

Monday, May 04, 2015

John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

This week is a very special occasion for it gives us, the community, an opportunity to thank two groups of professionals who make a difference in our school system and in the lives of our students…they are our teachers and the school nurses. We all know that teachers are the most critical factors in student achievement. Let us remember that a good teacher does more than pass on information for a good teacher inspires a thirst for learning that lasts a lifetime. Teachers continue to establish relationships with students in an attempt to make a difference in their lives and in their academic progress.

Teaching is the only profession out of which all others must grow. We are in an era of great accountability and excellence, but unfortunately the lack of resources so needed in the teaching profession has hampered our progress. Yet our teachers continue to work hard, purchase materials out of their own pockets and reach out to our children. They make a difference in children’s lives.

Having been an educator for all of my adult life, I cannot think of any better way of reaching out and making a difference in the lives of a child than being a teacher for it is a most challenging and rewarding profession. Teachers teach to improve the transmission of learning and to inspire our students to love learning. Every day parents entrust the teacher with their child and rely on the teacher to assist them in molding their future.

The same can be said about our nurses. We all know that healthy children learn better and school nurses help remove barriers to academic success. It’s essential that everyone understand that health and learning go hand in hand for an unhealthy child has difficultly in learning.

School nurses reduce absenteeism, provide better attendance rates and care for students in school so parents have to come pick up their children much less often. According to data, 96% of students seen by our nurses return to class.

Today’s nurses deal with a wide range of illnesses and conditions that did not exist years ago. These health professionals juggle a complex array of medical and social issues see hundreds of students deal with complex issues such as obesity, nutrition, prevention of diseases and work with students with special health care needs. For many students in our school system the school nurse is the only health care professional they ever see. They are the watchful eyes and ears of our children during school hours.

Our 44 school nurses in Worcester continue to collect medical data and stats for 24,000 students, maintain an individual health record on each of these students and as needed make health care plans. Today’s nurses are part of an interdisciplinary school team working to ensure that all students benefit from quality education and intervention services that reduce barriers to learning.

Nurses perform state mandated screenings at each school site: height, weight, Body Mass Index, vision, hearing, and postural. On average our school nurses see over 22,000 students every month. They support many students with chronic diseases, administer over 500 medications monthly, make time to care for students in school with life threatening allergies, diabetes, asthma, cancer, and many other medically complex medical issues and in some instances terminal medical problems. School Nurses help keep students in school by managing chronic health conditions, shortening illness-related absences, lessening the number of students sent home needlessly, and providing early detection and correction of health problems.

Both teachers and nurses are an important part of the success of our school system and both groups agree that performing a service for our children and making a difference in a child’s life is its own reward. So how can you thank these professional during this week? Consider sending a note or an E-mail to them or how about a visit from a former student or parent to say THANK YOU! Since we are in the age of technology consider creating an event page on Facebook to spread the word about your school’s “Week of appreciation for your teachers and nurses,” and encourage our community to join this forum for expressing their gratitude to two wonderful professionals.

We all should realize that supporting our teachers and school nurses is an investment in our future. PLEASE take the time this week to say thank-you!

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Monfredo: Honoring Our Unsung Heroes This Week, Our Teachers and Nurses

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