The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

September, 1951 The Health Bulletin 13be true of at least some of the defectsfound in this survey. This beingthe case effort should be increasedin both elementary schoolsand secondary schools to carry outthe above four recommendations.6. There should be a good medicalexamination for all 9th grade studentsfor the educational opportunitiesas well as to discover defects.As was foimd in this studyas soon as 9th grade pupils in onecounty were found to need defectscorrected, pupils and parents followedthrough to get the correctionsdone by the family physiciansor some specialists referred to bythe family physicians. It is recommendedthat the examinations bein the 9th grade in high school becausethat is the last grade inschool where a health course is requiredand it leaves time duringthe high school life to followthrough to get corrections done.TEACHER SCREENING AND OBSERVATIONOF SCHOOL CHILDRENBy Annie Ray Moore, Health EducatorSchool Health Coordinating ServiceRaleigh, North Carolinafirst screening in the fallTo know the children better and tofind their special health needs are verygood reasons why teachers screen andobserve their children."Screening means picking out thosechildren who need special teaching ormedical care." By taking a good look atall the children to find out which onesdo need help, the teacher learns manythings about those who do not appearto have any special problems.One of the most valuable resourcepersons to the teacher in this programis the public health niurse. The teacherand nurse make a team to work togetherto find those children with specialhealth problems. After these defectsand problems have been found, the.teacher and nurse work together to getsomething done about it.When the teacher has completed her(usually duringthe first month or six weeks ofschool), she arranges a conference withthe nurse if possible. Together they goover problems of the children together.Teacher and nurse decide which childrenshould be referred for medical examinationseither to their family physicianor to the Health Department.After the medical examination hasbeen held, the teacher and nurse worktogether to follow up on recommendationsby the physician. The teacher isin a key position to influence childrento get corrections done. The nurse doesan invaluable service through her homevisits to interpret needs to the parents.The Screening Record. In order to dothe best job of teaching and guiding achild in health activities, it is importantto know what has gone before. Thereforeit is essential to have some kindof record.The "North Carolina Teacher Screeningand Observation Record" has beendeveloped to help the teacher find thosechildren who need help and to keep arecord of what is done about it. Forseveral years most of the counties haveused the "Health Appraisal Form"—one-year type teacher screening record.During the past year "the North CarolinaTeacher Screening and ObservationRecord" has been developed to take theplace of the one-year type. These arer»w being printed and will be ready foruse this school year. A bulletin containingsuggestions for use of the record hasbeen prepared.County and city school superintendentsmay order these records fromMr. L. H. Jobe, Director of Publications,State Department of Public Instruction,Raleigh. These forms may be purchasedat cost out of school health funds.