By JONATHAN DALE, Staff Writer
May 11, 2007
Printed courtesy of Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, CA

Rebecca Barham watched the eye chart, closely following along with her trained school nurse’s eye, as Magnolia Elementary students read aloud whichever letters they could make out.

Barham is a credentialed school nurse for the Imperial County Office of Education, one of two whose jobs are to keep track of the health of children throughout the smaller school districts in Imperial County, a position that is being celebrated this week as National School Nurses Week.

“We do all the main data screening, such as vision, hearing, color vision, scoliosis and dental checks,” Barham said.

Each month, Barham and health aide Rosana Rizzutto visit the San Pasqual Valley Unified School District, Seeley School, Heber Elementary School District, Magnolia Elementary, Mulberry Elementary, Meadows Elementary and various special school sites for troubled students.

Barham’s colleague Carol Tyler looks out for the Calipatria Unified School District, McCabe Elementary, Westmorland Elementary and special school sites as well.

Barham and Tyler must look out for hundreds of students throughout dozens of school districts, all while being off-site for the majority of each month.

“The work they do is so incredibly important,” said ICOE Assistant Superintendent David Schoneman. “The services they provide are invaluable to getting kids off to a good start and helping parents and staff realize where they’re at.”

To make up for the fact they aren’t on each of their schools’ campuses every day, Barham said manuals and procedures have been laid out in case help is needed while she’s not on site.

“We monitor children with chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma by providing health education to the school staff regarding how to look after those illnesses,” she said.

Keeping kids healthy, Barham said, directly affects each child’s education. If not for these school nurses’ efforts, teachers would have a harder time getting their lessons through their students’ heads.

“They find it very important, because if kids can’t see or hear well, they won’t do well academically,” Barham said. “Also, if they have tooth aches or even back pains from scoliosis that can affect their academics.”

Another health factor the ICOE school nurses try to educate students, staff and parents on is childhood obesity.

“It’s very important because obesity has been named an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control,” Barham said. “A big percentage of these kids who are obese develop type II diabetes, which connects to (the country’s) big diabetes problem.”

Despite all the work they put in week in and week out, Schoneman said he believes these school nurses are always ready to serve, and truly bring a positive dynamic to the school districts they visit.

“I really feel that our nurses and our health aides don’t look at what they do as a job, but more as a calling,” Schoneman said. “They look at what they do as being important, and because of their attitude they help others around them.”

>> Staff Writer Jonathan Dale can be reached at 337-3440 or at jdale@ivpressonline.com