Incline Village Schools

• Thursday, September 10, 2009
• 8:30 am - 12:00 pm
• Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, Education Room
• 2680 East Ninth St., Reno

Topics will include:

• Release of Youth BMI Data for Washoe County and Nevada
• Maintaining Healthy Weight in Childhood: Biology, Development, and Psycology
• How "Big Food" Markets to Children
• Food Insufficiency in Washoe County: Its Role in Unhealthy Weight
• Mapping Environmental Influences on Obesity Using GIS Technology
• New CDC Recommendations for Preventing Obesity in Children and Youth
• Mobilizing to Curb Obesity in Washoe County

Light refreshments will be provided.

For questions about the Forum please contact Kelli Seals at (775) 325-8244 or visit: gethealthywashoe.com

With the new school year starting, parents might want to have that talk about strangers before sending them off to walk to school or to a bus stop.

• If anybody does approach, do not respond to them. If someone tries to entice them, ask for help or get them into a vehicle – anything along those lines, they need not respond and should continue on their way.
• If they feel very uncomfortable or in danger, they should go to the nearest residence or adult and notify them of the situation. They should try to remember the color of a vehicle, a description and maybe a license plate.
• Tell children about what to do if someone does try to grab them.  “Make as much noise as possible. Hopefully, it will attract too much attention,” Mieras said, and the would-be abductor drives off.
• Parents should insist their children walk with friends to school or to the bus stop. And if a parent is available to join them, that’s even better. “It’s also a good time for parents and students to bond and talk about what’s coming up in school,” he said.  Parents also could take turns walking groups of children to school or to the bus stop.
• Children should be told to get off at their normal bus stop and go home directly from school and check in with their parents.  “They should make that a daily routine as much as possible,” he said.
• If the children plan to go to a friend’s house or a school activity, they should tell their parents beforehand. That can be as easy as making a call on their cell phones or borrowing one to make that call.

The Incline Choraliers is beginning its fourth season as the only children's and youth vocal ensemble of its kind on the lake. This group sings a variety of music and ends the season with a musical production in December. It involves two- and three-part harmony singing and vocal techniques, choreography, drama, and confidence building by featuring each singer. To join or for information call the director Eunice Marion at (775) 832-0568.

The Incline Elementary School Jog-a-Thon is an annual fundraiser where students collect donations and jog to help support our PE program.  For further information contact Maria Giangreco at (775) 831-2519.  You can Donate Now On-Line to the Jog-a-Thon!

The following guidance was issued this morning (September 3) to all principals in the Washoe County School District concerning the President’s address to school children.

President Obama will deliver a live address to the nation's school children on Tuesday, September 8th at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time. The speech will be available on the White House website at www.whitehouse.gov.

According to the US Department of Education, the President will focus on the importance of hard work and setting educational goals. He will also call for a sense of shared responsibility among students, parents and educators.  These ideas are consistent with the goals of our Blueprint for Student Success.

This is an optional activity, both for teachers and students, and each school is encouraged to plan appropriate activities as they see fit. If you have parents who do not want their child to watch the address, please provide them with an alternative activity during the speech.

The Washoe County Health District is hosting a walk-in vaccination clinic Friday in Reno for area seventh graders.

From 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m., the health district is offering the Tdap vaccine, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis to seventh grade students. The Tdap vaccine is $16.

The vaccine is required for public school students and strongly encouraged for all students.

A clinic won't be held locally as it was last year at Incline Middle School, said Judy Davis, a spokeswoman with the county. All vaccinations this year are being distributed at the Health District's Ninth Street office in Reno, Davis said.

The office is located at Building B on 1001 East Ninth Street, Reno.

Flu shots

As students head back to school, and area administrators are still watchful for the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, parents and residents may be anxious for flu vaccinations.

While there is no vaccine for the swine flu, regular flu vaccinations are available currently at the Village Market Pharmacy for a price of $35. The shot is available without an appointment anytime during business hours.

Both the Raley's Pharmacy and Incline Village Community Hospital say vaccinations are expected any day now but do not have updated pricing information. When they arrive, vaccinations will be offered at both sites on a walk-in basis.

Also, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu for pages of information regarding the H1N1 virus.

September is Hispanic Heritage month, and a celebration of Hispanic culture will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 13 at Miguel Ribera Park, 3925 Neil Road, Reno.

There will be music, dancing and food and an opportunity for the entire community to enjoy elements of various Hispanic cultures.

Vendors will present their arts and crafts, and there will be educational booths. The Hispanic Heritage Festival is sponsored by Nevada Hispanic Services, a nonprofit that serves the needs of the Hispanic community.

Details: Jesse or Nelson at 775-826-1818 or Nevada Hispanic Services' Web site at www.nhsreno.org.

As you may know, the typical seasonal flu and H1N1 or “swine flu” can both be easily spread from person to person. Therefore, we are taking steps to reduce the spread of both types of flu in the Washoe County School District. We’re sanitizing all common surfaces daily and encouraging the use of hand sanitizers. We’re isolating students who become sick and sending them home until they get better. We want to keep schools open to students and functioning in a normal manner during this coming flu season. But, we need your help to do this.

Here are a few things you can do to help:

• Teach your children to wash their hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. You can set a good example by doing this yourself.
• Teach your children not to share personal items like drinks, food or unwashed utensils, and to cover their coughs and sneezes with tissues. Covering up their coughs or sneezes using the elbow, arm or sleeve instead of the hand is an effective way to prevent spreading the flu when a tissue is unavailable.
• Know the signs and symptoms of H1N1 flu:  fever of 100 degrees or greater and a cough and/or sore throat.
• Keep sick children at home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have symptoms of illness and they are fever-free for at least 24 hours, without using fever-reducing drugs.  Keeping children with a fever at home will reduce the number of people who may get infected.
• Do not send children to school if they are sick. Any children who are determined to be sick while at school will be sent home. We will call you to come pick up your child.

We are working closely with the Washoe County Health District to monitor H1N1flu conditions and make decisions about the best steps to take concerning schools. We will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.

If the H1N1 flu becomes more severe, we may take additional steps to prevent the spread such as:

• Conducting active fever and flu symptom screening of students and staff as they arrive at school
• Making changes to increase the space between people, such as moving desks farther apart and postponing class trips, and
• Dismissing students from school for at least 7 days if they become sick.

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