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School clinics throughout the school system had a need this year for clinic visitation passes that provide communication between the school nurse, teacher, and parents when face-to-face communication is not an option.
When school health services coordinator Debbie King started looking into the cost of having an outside company create the passes, she found the expense to be between $2,000-3,000. That is when she decided to talk to teachers involved in the REACH (Reaching Educational and Career Heights) program to see if their students could assist.
REACH is a program for students with developmental disabilities ages 18-21 that helps them get into the workforce and become independent and productive citizens. Students in the school system’s Community Based Vocational Instructional program are recommend for REACH by their teachers because they have shown independence and self-discipline.
King says the students took on the challenge of creating the passes, one designed specifically for elementary schools and another for middle and high schools, and that the passes were put in to use during this past school year. The elementary pass is more detailed for teachers to be specific about their students’ complaint, and for nurses to provide their assessments, and medications and treatments given so that parents know what occurred during their child’s visit to the school clinic. The middle and high school forms are less detailed, and are used to communicate with teachers and attendance clerks when students leave the school due to an illness.
“The REACH students saved the school system a lot of money by creating these passes. The students and their teachers have agreed to continue this project next year,” says King.
The last week of school King hosted an ice cream party for all of the REACH students who were involved in the project. They were also presented with a large “thank you” card signed by the school system’s school nurses.
School clinics throughout the school system had a need this year for clinic visitation passes that provide communication between the school nurse, teacher, and parents when face-to-face communication is not an option.
When school health services coordinator Debbie King started looking into the cost of having an outside company create the passes, she found the expense to be between $2,000-3,000. That is when she decided to talk to teachers involved in the REACH (Reaching Educational and Career Heights) program to see if their students could assist.
REACH is a program for students with developmental disabilities ages 18-21 that helps them get into the workforce and become independent and productive citizens. Students in the school system’s Community Based Vocational Instructional program are recommend for REACH by their teachers because they have shown independence and self-discipline.
King says the students took on the challenge of creating the passes, one designed specifically for elementary schools and another for middle and high schools, and that the passes were put in to use during this past school year. The elementary pass is more detailed for teachers to be specific about their students’ complaint, and for nurses to provide their assessments, and medications and treatments given so that parents know what occurred during their child’s visit to the school clinic. The middle and high school forms are less detailed, and are used to communicate with teachers and attendance clerks when students leave the school due to an illness.
“The REACH students saved the school system a lot of money by creating these passes. The students and their teachers have agreed to continue this project next year,” says King.
The last week of school King hosted an ice cream party for all of the REACH students who were involved in the project. They were also presented with a large “thank you” card signed by the school system’s school nurses.
