Dear Sprague Community,
Just two weeks left in the school year! It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? While we look forward to summer vacations and some down time, we have some of my favorite Sprague traditions at the very end of the year.
For those who are new to Sprague, you are all invited to be here for the 5th grade Clap Out on the last day at 11:50 AM. (We have a 12:00 dismissal on June 20, our last day.) Students line the hallways to clap and high five all the fifth graders as they take one last lap around the Sprague hallways. We also have a fun assembly on the last day with a slide show from Field Day and a special Summer Reading Video from our teachers! Don’t forget to check out the Summer Reading blog on the library site!
http://spragueschoollibrary.blogspot.com/
The Sprague Family Picnic is low key and families bring their own food, either from home or take out. This year, we will also have a food truck and our favorite live band, “Hearts on Fire.”
Field Day takes place on June 12. Ms. Flitsch is a master organizer of fun for this day. Look for the sign up sheet in the Sprague Pulse if you are willing to volunteer to help run an activity station. We have 18 stations to run. Remember that students will be outside ALL morning on this day, so sunscreen and a water bottle are a MUST!
Special thanks go out to John and Danae Foley who organize a ‘walking train’ of children and parents from their neighborhood for the last Walk to School day each June. They pick me up at Sprague so I can join as we walk the 3 miles (all uphill) and pick up children and parents along the route. This is usually a bus route, so the timing is key. John is the safety officer, making sure we all cross the streets safely.
If you are moving from the Sprague neighborhood and your children will attend a different school next year, please let us know in the office (if you haven’t already). This is very important as we need signed releases from each family to be able to send school records to the new schools. It is also important for us to know who will not be returning for school planning purposes. Thank you.
Yearbooks will be distributed to students on the last day of school. Special thanks go to Yearbook Chairs Jen Bowman and Lisa Neighbors. The Sprague Yearbook is second to none and a real keepsake! (It is also A LOT of work, so THANKS!)
The Food Drive will take place next week. Our fifth graders help to organize and be sure the items are delivered. This is good time of year to remember the Food Pantry and help them re-stock the shelves. They ask us for specific items and we assign each grade some items. See message below:
Next week is the Annual Sprague Food Drive! Tuesday June 12 – Friday June 15!
Each class donates certain food items based on the Food Pantry’s needs. The 5th Graders will deliver the food to the Pantry on Monday, June 18th. Here are the foods for each grade:
K: Ketchup, Mayo and vegetable oil
1: Pasta Sauce (not in glass jars)
2: Coffee, jams & jellies
3: Canned Salmon and Canned sardines
4: Canned Meats
5: Rice
Donations can be sent via backpack or dropped off in car line on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday next week (5th Graders will be on hand to collect). The Food Pantry cannot accept any expired food, so please be sure to check labels.
Thank you so much!
5th Grade Activities Committee
Sharon Kahn, our wonderful school nurse, will be retiring at the end of the school year. Sharon has been a school nurse in Wellesley for 21 years and the Sprague nurse for 16 years—since we opened in 2002! We will surely miss Sharon’s kind way of taking care of our students in the Health Office. She is looking forward to spending more time with her beautiful granddaughter. We will announce the name of our new nurse for 2018-2019 before the end of the school year. I know you join me in thanking Sharon for taking care of all of us and wishing her all the best.
Speaking of Sharon, here’s a message from her:
From the Nurse: June is National Headache Awareness Month
What causes children’s headaches?
Children of all ages may experience headaches. A number of factors, singly or in combination, can cause your child’s headache. These include:
- Illness and infection: The most common cause of headache in kids is a viral infection such as a cold or the flu; could also be due to common childhood illnesses, including ear infections, strep throat, and sinus infections.
- Genetic predisposition: Headaches, especially migraines, tend to run in families.
- Head trauma: Most head bumps are minor, but be sure to seek medical attention quickly if your child has dizziness, nausea, vomiting, blurred or double vision, ringing in the ears, any memory loss, poor coordination or emotional instability (anger, crying, anxiety) or has a steadily worsening headache after a bang on the head.
- Environmental factors: Weather changes, odors, loud noises, bright light, and secondhand smoke can all cause headaches.
- Emotional factors: Depression, stress, or anxiety can lead to headaches.
- Sleep deprivation: Overtiredness or a change in routine or sleep pattern may cause headaches in children.
- Inadequate hydration or skipping meals: Lack of fluids or food can cause headaches.
- Eyestrain: Schedule an eye exam if your child complains of headache and/or dizziness when reading and writing.
- Certain foods, food additives, and beverages: MSG (in foods like bacon, bologna, hot dogs) and caffeine (in soda, chocolate, coffee and tea) are known to trigger headaches.
What kind of headache does your child have?
Kids get the same types of headaches adults do, but their symptoms may differ. For example, a migraine in an adult usually starts early in the morning, but a child’s is more likely to develop in the late afternoon. Also, migraine pain in children may last less than four hours, whereas in adults, migraines last at least four hours.
Headaches are typically hard to describe, especially for children. Some headaches are related to stress, while others are the result of an illness or injury. They are classified into two main categories — primary and secondary. Primary headaches develop by themselves rather than as a result of illness or injury. This category includes:
- Tension-type headache. Often stress related, a common type of children’s headaches; the child may complain of a tightening or pressure in the head, neck and/or skull muscles; mild to moderate nonpulsating pain on both sides of the head; pain that is not worsened by activity nor accompanied by nausea or vomiting. Tension-type headaches can last from 30 minutes to several days.
- Migraine. Approximately 5 percent of school-age children experience migraines. Before children reach puberty, migraines affect about the same number of boys as girls, but in the teen years, girls tend to have migraines more often. A migraine may be disabling, causing pulsating, throbbing or pounding head pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Children may also have all of the signs of a migraine with no head pain, known as an abdominal migraine. Unlike tension-type headaches, migraines often occur during nonstressful or recreational times and the pain worsens with exertion. A nap will frequently relieve the migraine pain for a child.
- Chronic daily headache. (CDH) is a term for migraine headaches and tension-type headaches that occur more than 15 days a month for more than three months. CDH may be caused by an infection, minor head injury or taking pain medications — even nonprescription pain medications — too often.
Secondary headaches result from some underlying condition, such as fever, cold virus, strep throat, head trauma, sinus or ear infection, medication side effects, meningitis, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ) or other jaw-related problems. Treatment is dependent upon the causative condition.
Preventing children’s headaches
Measures that promote general good health will prevent all but the occasional headache in a child:
- Adequate rest. Children need plenty of sleep on a regular schedule, at least 9 hours a day.
- A healthy diet and fluids. Children need to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and nutritious snacks throughout the day. Be sure your child drinks enough water, particularly in hot weather and after strenuous activity.
- Take steps at the first sign of a headache. When your child develops a headache, encourage him or her to take a nap — if possible, in a dark, quiet room.
- Keep a headache diary. Note times and places that headaches occur. Describe behaviors or events that happen with headaches. Information from the diary will help identify possible headache triggers. Be sure to wait for the child to volunteer that he/she has a headache rather than asking.
- Avoid stressors. Be alert for things that may be causing stress in your child’s life, such as difficulty doing schoolwork or strained relationships with peers.
- Exercise. Regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, swimming or biking, can help reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches. Exercise relieves stress, relaxes muscles and increases the levels of the body’s natural stress relievers.
When to Call the MD
Seek your pediatrician’s advice if your child has recurrent headaches or any episode of head pain severe enough to keep him/her out of school or other activities, if the pain wakes him/her from sleep, worsens or becomes increasingly frequent, is accompanied by personality changes, features persistent vomiting or visual changes, or is accompanied by fever with neck pain or stiffness.
As always, please contact me if you have any questions.
Sharon
Date to remember:
June 11: Sprague Family Picnic 5-7 PM
June 12: Field Day (rain date is June 14)
June 19: Grade 5 Farewell Celebration at 9 AM–Fifth grade families invited!
June 20: Last Day of School—11:50 Clap Out—12:00 dismissal
http://spragueschoollibrary.