Hello, Nurse!

There's a really cute column from the Centre Daily Times (State College, PA -- home of Penn State) this weekend. A kindergarten teacher sings the praises of the school nurse. She ends with a list of her students lesser attempts at getting sent home, such as, "My sister has the weasels," or, "I have a hernia in my knee."

They actually grow up a little in this area by middle school (or their parents are tired of picking them up from school, at least). The nurse at my first campus just dispensed magic peppermints and sent them on to class. School nurses have such an unusual role. Often they have to see past the list of symptoms to decipher which kiddo is looking for an escape from Algebra and which is looking for an escape from bullying. I've been blessed with great campus nurses who can usually tell the difference and take appropriate action when necessary. And, of course, they sometimes get students who are really sick. They do that part of their job really well.