Dear Sprague Community,
Day of Play
The Day of Play is tomorrow! We have collected many recycled items that can be used for our creations. We will continue to collect more tomorrow if you still have things to send in. At our school gathering on Friday, we read the book, “Iggy Peck, Architect,” about a boy who loved to build buildings until he got to second grade. There, his teacher forbade building due to a childhood memory until the class got stranded on an island on a field trip. Iggy and his classmates figured out how to rebuild a bridge to get back and creative building was allowed forever more! We try to include creativity in our curriculum on a regular basis and view this Day of Play as a fun reminder that we aim to help students develop skills in the 4 C’s—collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and CREATIVITY. Last year, we saw students make shoes from tissue boxes, helmets from bigger boxes, arcade games, robots, gardens, museums, basketball hoops, and much more! I can’t wait to see what they come up with this time!
Lost and Found
As we get ready for a vacation, I’d like to ask that students and parents check our lost and found. We will move items to the lobby area for easier viewing on Wednesday. There are many unclaimed items without names in them. We urge families to be sure to write names in items so have a better chance of getting things back to their owners. With so many winter items, it can be easy for students to forget things, but we hope they will learn to keep track of their belongings to minimize losses. We are aware that some students have not found some lost items and hope they will turn up. We will try to help find items that may have ended up in the wrong place.
From the Nurse: Do you know what to do in a poisoning emergency?
Call 911 if the victim has collapsed or is not breathing. If the victim is awake and alert call 1-800-222-1222 immediately. (Hearing Impaired: 1-888-244-5313) That’s the National Poison Control Center where help is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you think someone has been poisoned, stay calm and call right away.
☞Do NOT wait for the victim to look or feel sick!
The staff at the poison control center will provide quick accurate poisoning treatment guidance.
When you call the hotline, a registered nurse, pharmacist or physician with specialized training in toxicology answers the phone. Bring the poison with you to the phone to read information from the bottle’s label. You will be asked:
- your name, phone number, and zip code
- the victim’s age and weight
- the name of the substance or poison
- the time the poisoning took place
- the amount of the substance or poison consumed
- any symptoms the victim has related to the poisoning
- any current health problems of the victim
- any medicines the victim currently takes
Please note: Ipecac Syrup is no longer recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The AAP determined that Syrup of Ipecac does not have a place in home management of poisoning cases since it has not been associated with improvement in patient outcome. The AAP recommends that parents no longer keep syrup of ipecac in the home and that they throw away any they may have on hand.
*Prevention Tips
Accidental poisonings are preventable. Know your poisons and take precautions.
- Be aware of the poisonous substances in your home.
- Keep all harmful household products in locked cabinets with safety latches and/or out of reach and sight of children, even if you don’t have small children. Many poisonings happen when children are visiting homes where no small children live.
- Store all household and medicinal products in their original labeled containers. Do not use food containers such as milk or soda bottles to store household products.
- Buy and store all medicine and household products in child-resistant packaging.
Remember that child-resistant does not mean childproof; it is only more difficult to open but
given enough time a child will open the container.
- If you are using a product and need to answer the phone or the door, keep the childwith you. Many poisonings occur when the product is in use and an adult is distracted by the doorbell or telephone.
- Store food and household products in separate areas. Mistaken identity can cause serious poisoning.
- Read all medication labels carefully. At night, turn on the light when you prepare medicine for your children or yourself so you know you have the correct dose of the correct medication.
- Always return any medicines to safe storage immediately. Medicines are often swallowed by young children who find them where they have been left out.
- Never refer to medication as candy.
- Avoid taking medicines in front of children, who will often imitate adults.
- Clean out your medicine cabinet periodically and throw away expired medications.
- Watch especially those children who have swallowed a poison; they are likely to try again within a year.
- Read and follow the directions and caution labels on household and chemical products before using them. Never mix two household or chemical products together. Mixing household products may create toxic fumes. For example, the combination of bleach and ammonia creates a poisonous gas (chloramine gas) that causes respiratory problems. The use of varnishes or paint strippers in poorly ventilated areas can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting and serious conditions.
- Know the names of all the plants in your home and yard. Teach your children not to eat mushrooms, berries or leaves growing wild.
- Keep children and pets away from plants that have been recently sprayed with weed killer, fertilizer, or insect killer.
- Place carbon monoxide detectors in your home.
- Check your home for sources of lead exposure.
- Post the Poison Control phone number on or near the phone and save it in your cell phone.
Every 21 seconds a child is poisoned in the US. Children under the age of seven are at a great risk for accidental poisoning since they will eat or drink anything, are curious by nature, investigate their world by putting things in their mouths, and are attracted to the bright packaging, good smells, and colorful substances of many products found in the home.
Another age group at increased risk is adults age 25 to 60; members of this group are unintentionally poisoned when they do not follow label directions on medications or household chemicals.
We American consumers buy more than 250,000 different products that are used around our households for medication, cleaning, cosmetic purposes, eliminating insects, and killing weeds. These items are valuable when used properly, but misuse can cause serious harm. Each year more than 24,000 people die and over 2.5 million suffer as a result of unintentional home poisoning in the US.
Home unintentional poisonings are preventable. We can keep our family members and ourselves safer by being aware of potential hazards and following these recommendations from the National Safety Council.
Dates to remember:
Dec. 21: Day of Play
Dec. 21: Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Dec. 23: Full day of school
Dec. 24-Jan. 2: Winter break
Jan. 3: Classes resume
Jan. 13: Concert featuring Grades 3 and 4 at 2:15—parents welcome
Jan. 16: No school-Martin Luther King Day
Jan. 20: Winter Concert featuring Grade 5 Chorus, Band, and Orchestra at 2:15—parents welcome
Jan. 23: Geography Bee Finals at 10:00