Keeping Our Children’s Lungs Clean
Several years ago a representative from The Clean Air Campaign came to one of our school nurse meetings to speak about their program. We were very impressed and I enrolled our school in the Clean Air Schools program. Fast forward years later and we are still a very active in our attempt to raise awareness about the importance of clean air.
During this school year, our teachers formed what we call a Green Team. I sent out an email asking them for help with many of our Clean Air Campaign activities and they more than obliged. One of the highlights came in late February when we held a Clean Air Week which included students holding up “No Idling signs” in the carpool lane to remind parents that an idling car can release as much pollution as a moving car.
During the week, we also asked our students and teachers to wear yellow shirts as a reminder to ride the bus. Some of our students also read daily facts each morning on our announcements that included pertinent information about ways to help the environment. Perhaps the kids’ favorite part of the week however, was when we distributed stickers as a reminder to “stick to riding the bus”.
As we celebrate Air Quality Awareness this week there are a few simple things that parents can do to make a huge difference in the air their children breathe. Two of the easiest are to monitor the Air Quality Index (AQI) each day as well as sign up to receive Smog Alerts to know when concentrations of either ground-level ozone or particle pollution are forecasted to reach unhealthy levels. Clean air is becoming something to treasure. Stay healthy and happy!
Celeste Frey, RN is a school nurse at Cumming Elementary
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