Sally Vandenbos, CCSD Consulting Nurse  for Area 1, spoke with WXIA TV over the weekend, answering questions about flu in schools.

Mrs. Vandenbos has been with Cobb’s School Health Services since 2002. A former school nurse with Ford Elementary and a former itinerant nurse, Vandenbos is the consulting nurse for Area 1 serving Pebblebrook and South Cobb cluster schools. She is responsible for the supervision, administration and coordination of school health services in her area. She has been a member of the National Association for School Nurses for over 5 years and was named 2009 School Nurse Administrator of the Year by the Georgia Association of School Nurses in June.

Cobb County middle and high school student actors, script writers and production assistants partied at the Northeast Cobb YMCA on April 20 to celebrate the release of their DVD. It was produced for use with the Keepin’ it REAL curriculum and as part of April 2009 Alcohol Awareness Month. More than 40 youth spent a
total of 115 service hours in the production of the film.

Participating students from Dickerson, Dodgen, East Cobb, Hightower Trail middle schools and Pope and Lassiter high schools received gift cards, certificates of appreciation and copies of the DVD. Family members, production crew, community partners and CCSD personnel joined in the fun and made an enthusiastic audience for the screening of the DVD.

The DVD was produced for use with Keepin’ it REAL, a model SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration) program. “Producing the DVD with local students and in familiar local settings will help the lessons seem more relevant and realistic”, said Katie Love-Pride, Cobb Prevention Intervention Center GRAA Program Specialist. REAL stands for; Refuse to use alcohol, Explain why they won’t use, Avoid situations where alcohol may be served, and Leave a situation where they may be tempted to use alcohol.

Keepin’ it REAL is being implemented in four middle schools and three high schools as part of a Grant to Reduce Alcohol Abuse, awarded to the Cobb County School District by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools. According to Georgia Student Health Survey data, 26 percent of Cobb students report their first use of alcohol between eighth and twelfth grade, with the average age of first use reported as 13 years old. “Waiting to be taught about alcohol and binge drinking until eleventh and twelfth grades places students at risk for early initiation”, said Jeff Inman, Cobb School’s Prevention Intervention Center Coordinator.

Cobb Alcohol Taskforce is an alliance of individuals and organizations which mobilizes and challenges Cobb County adults to reduce underage drinking and youth binge drinking, by advancing strategic enforcement, policy and education goals. For more information visit www.cobbat.org or call 404-791-7406.

The District’s Food & Nutrition Services department has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Southeast Regional Office for its Summer Nutrition Program. The USDA honored Cobb for ‘Ensuring Program Integrity,’ one of only eight awards given for the entire USDA Southeast Region. 2008 was the first year in which Cobb County School District participated in the Summer Nutrition Program, making the honor even more distinguished.

The District’s School Health Services department partnered with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Feb. 16 to host an important training day for school nurses throughout Georgia. More than 220 public and private school health professionals from Cobb, Athens-Clarke, Dade, Houston and many other Georgia counties came together for the inservice to discuss hot health topics relevant to the school environment.

Dr. Benjamin Gold, Chief of Gastroenterology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, talked to the group about understanding Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in children. Dr. Kate Arnold of the Georgia Department of Public Health led the afternoon sessions regarding the role of school nurses in handling cases of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and infectious rashes.

The day-long training included breakouts for collaboration and discussion of best practices between nurses. Attendees spent time sharing experiences, viewing demonstrations of healthcare-related products from vendors and discussing funding for school health programs.

Anne Coyle, Nursing Supervisor for the Cobb, represented the District at the recent National Conference for School Nurses in early July. Mrs. Coyle (pictured above left) was one of 1,200 school nurses and health experts in attendance, sharing best practices and participating in workshops. Sponsored by the National Association of School Nurses, the conference is the premier international gathering for school health professionals.

The delegates from Georgia are all school nurses from public and private schools throughout the state. They wore Atlanta Braves shirts to represent Georgia during the business segment of the conference.

The Cobb County School District honors its dedicated school health professionals on May 7 as part of School Nurse Appreciation Week. A special reception for Cobb’s 120 school nurses was held, with special awards given for nurses with more than five years of service to the District.

Nursing supervisor Anne Coyle presented veteran nurses with a special lapel pin in honor of their work.

The School Health Services department supports education by meeting students’ healthcare needs within the academic environment. School nurses provide first aid and administration of medication for students, as well as management of suspected communicable diseases in schools. Cobb’s school nurses served students in more than 500,000 office visits during the 2006-07 school year. In more than 85 percent of those cases, the student was able to return to class to continue his/her educational activities.

School Health Services also work with parents/guardians, teachers, administrators and other healthcare professionals to raise awareness of health issues in the schools and throughout the county. Throughout the year, the department held training sessions for Cobb’s school nurses that included coverage of DFCS protocol, diabetes education, CPR and proper use of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in place at every District facility.

Sanders Elementary School celebrated the benefits of living healthy on Jan. 29, along with some special guests. Atlanta Falcons cornerback D’Angelo Hall, Falcons cheerleaders Nikki and Karla, along with the South Cobb High School football team and cheerleading squad joined hundreds of Sanders students in the school auditorium to celebrate the 3-A-Day of Dairy campaign.   Representatives from the 3-A-Day campaign kicked off the event by talking to students about the health benefits of having three daily servings of milk, cheese or yogurt. They quickly introduced special guest Freddy the Falcon, the mascot for the Atlanta Falcons, who got the crowd pumped up.  Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders Nikki and Karla, along with the South Cobb High teams, led Sanders students in a variety of fun, body moving activities. South Cobb Football players Brett Sudduth, Alex Webster, Marlon Jones, Jeff Powers, Jimmy Thomas, Cory Wade, Josh Wilson, Khevin Sullivan, Brandon North and Julian Richardson were on hand to help guide the activities, as well as South Cobb Cheerleaders Ashley Harris, Natalie Biggs, Rachael Dillon, Morgan Houze, Kalisha Fagan, Jessica Elwood, Pierina Ampudia, Jocelyn Dennis, Ambria Brown and Chelsea Smith. Falcons star D’Angelo Hall spoke to the Sanders crowd about the importance of dairy products in a quality diet and answered questions about his role on the Falcons. 

Dr. Patti Agatston, Prevention Specialist for the District’s Prevention/Intervention Center, has recently seen her book on cyber bullying cited in the national media. Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age was co-written by Dr. Agatston and two colleagues to help combat the growing problem of bullying via the Internet and mobile phone, issues that most parents never had to deal with growing up. Candace Lombardi of prominent Web site CNet covered the issue of cyber bullying and interviews Dr. Agatston for the piece.

A related article by Dr. Agatston, “Students’ Perspectives on Cyber Bullying,” was also recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The book is available for purchase on the Web site CyberBullyHelp.com.

With car crashes ranking as the primary cause of fatalities among American teenagers, educating teens of their responsibilities on the road is essential. Allstate insurance and NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne stepped up to assist in that effort Oct. 25, when Kahne and car owner Ray Evernham visited Pebblebrook High School in Mableton to discuss safe driving.

Driver of the #9 Dodge car, the 27 year-old Kahne is a seven-time winner in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and one of the sport’s most popular personalities. Speed Channel personality John Roberts hosted the on-stage discussion with Kahne and Evernham, who talked about their careers in racing, their driving experiences off the race track and the importance of teens learning how to maximize their safety on the road. Kahne talked to Pebblebrook’s students about the difference between driving fast on the racetrack and driving prudently on the streets. Evernham spoke about his own teenage son learning to drive and how his role as both a father and a racing engineer has helped him educate his son.

Pebblebrook was chosen for the Allstate-sponsored event because of the involvement of sophomore Sara Diggins (pictured above with Kahne), one of 47 safe driving ambassadors representing The Allstate Foundation. Sara introduced Kahne and Evernham to her fellow Pebblebrook students after sharing some of her personal experiences of losing someone she knew in a car accident. She also explained how she is opting to keep her learner’s permit for a longer period of time so that she can become more familiar with driving in the busy metro Atlanta traffic.

Students experienced a variety of interactive features set up in the Pebblebrook theater lobby, including a driving simulator and displays of authentic NASCAR safety equipment.

Speed Channel’s John Roberts shared some of his thoughts about safe driving for a segment on the channel. Roberts said, “I’ve never seen a text message worth losing your life over.”

Kahne and Evernham also spent time signing autographs and taking pictures with students in attendance.

Allstate used the event to announce a relaunch of its safe driving information Web site, which includes the Parent-Teen Driving Contract to help parents start driving discussions with their kids.

The District’s first annual We Can in Cobb! Health Fair took place Oct. 13, kicking off with a 5k charity walk benefitting the March of Dimes. Following the walk, participants browsed a health and wellness vendor booths featuring complimentary blood pressure and Body Mass Index screenings.

Lots of the fair activities focused on kids. The Girl Scouts performed a Healthy Eating Puppet Show and the Cobb School Nutrition Association allowed children to create a healthy lunch on a cafeteria lunch tray using food models.

The We Can in Cobb! Health Fair preceded National School Lunch Week, Oct. 15 – 19.