The MUS Lower School Blog

Getting well, remaining cautious

I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on T.V. (a tired and lost pop culture reference on these lads), but I can negotiate some basic arithmetic. We had a lot of boys out sick (some with Facinghistoryitis) before Fall Break, and the make-up work continues. I hope that the quality of preparation and execution is up to par, and we know of no other course of action other than to plow through what is left outstanding. The boys aren't freaking out, so I'm not either. I guess we'll wait for reactions to Friday's grades posting.

The flu is still a very real and present reality. The boys often ask, "When you gonna take the surgical gloves off the water fountains?" No time soon. I ask parents to keep the vigilance on 24/7, something probably uncomfortable and bothersome, I agree, but we haven't seen kids ill in these numbers in a while, and we still do not know if this bug will linger and re-infect. Please help your son by reminding him how to exercise caution, and we pledge to continue our efforts of the same here. This could be how we all proceed for the near term. 

FCD Week; Speaking to parents Thursday noon

Freedom from Chemical Dependency, or FCD Educational Services, as it is now known, is on campus this week. Roger Waitt and Glenn Hall represent the program, and as annual visitors to MUS they come prepared to speak frankly with our boys about life and how best to live it in this fast East Memphis culture. They will be speaking to students during P.E. periods as well as during assemblies. Email Catherine@musowls.org to reserve your lunch for Thursday at 12:00 p.m. in the Wunderlich Auditorium.

Freedom from Chemical Dependency week starts Monday

Representatives from Freedom from Chemical Dependency will be on campus next week, September 28-October 2 to talk with your sons about healthy choices involving alcohol and drugs. Please join us for the parent event on Thursday, October 1 at 12 noon in the Wunderlich Auditorium. Box lunches will be served so please RSVP to Catherine Schuhmacher at catherine@musowls.org.

 

Bring your own water bottles; we're shutting fountains down

In an effort to take more precautions of limiting the potential of germ transfer among students, the Lower School is allowing students to bring bottled or tap water to school for personal use. The bottles must be kept in their lockers during the school day, and the bottles will not be allowed in the classrooms. Beginning tomorrow, the water fountains are going to be shut down. Boys should bring enough water to satisfy themselves for the day as we cannot insure that re-filling bottles in the bathrooms is sanitary.

The Owl Camp water bottles are an appropriate example of a sanitary, washable, and portable personable water transport and delivery device. The re-use of store-bought plastic bottles is inadvisable due to the bottles' difficulty to be cleaned thoroughly. 

The potential of abuse exists ranging from the boys' bringing and consuming alternative fluids and/or participating in the spontaneous eruption of water fights in the hallways, just to name two ideas for malfeasance off the top of my head. We will shut down this option as quickly as we allowed it if abused, so please help us pass the word that this effort is made as a serious measure towards encouraging public health. 

No place will be 100% germ free, and we do not want to be alarmist, but we think we can continue to be more cautious. The regular use of hand sanitizer, now available throughout the buildings, and the opportunity for the lunch line to be an auxiliary measure of sanitizing to compliment pre-lunch hand-washing will be helpful in maintaining reasonable precautions for protecting public health at MUS.

Hand washing ritualized before lunch

As I write, the President is delivering his education speech, and about the only thing on the minds of our students is the very sad news surrounding the H1N1 death of a Memphis boy, White Station Middle School eighth grader Michael Howse, a friend to many of our students. Mrs. Schuhmacher and I are eating lunch today with anyone who wants to discuss it. We are sending a signed card to White Station.

We are distributing hand sanitizer among the boys as they line up for lunch, an axillary effort to supplement their hand washing, something about which we remind the boys regularly.

We beat the press to the punch

We decided last week to announce to the Lower Schoolers that we were suspending the practice of the boys purchasing candy during lunch. Purchasing led to eating, and eating too much sugar is a real national health concern, one from which our boys are not immune. The American Heart Association's recent report agrees as delivered today on CNBC. Teens eat 34 teaspoons daily, so the report says. Well, that's just deplorable. Maybe we all can help these boys learn to make some healthy diet choices.

How shall we then eat?

While our boys have already formed many of their living patterns by the time they show up at MUS, oftentimes behavior modification can be successful for 12-14 year-olds. What they eat is obviously important all stages of their lives, and some of these boys may need to take a fresh look at their eating habits. Given the brain and body (and busy schedule) fluctuations at the middle-school stage,  I think that all of us should reconsider what these kids eat as we contemplate their overall wellness and how it relates to their performance.

I distinctly remember that my family's food options at home changed when I entered junior high. My mother made radical adjustments to the family diet after her mother experienced health complications due to a high sodium diet. After arriving home one afternoon from school, to my dismay all of the snacks in the cupboard had changed. Mom stood by proudly announcing that it was the dawn of a new day. She meant it. I was maybe 13, and somehow I survived. Looking back, that bold move made a big difference in the variety of food choices I experienced, and as a result my world grew beyond the provincial staples of a bag of Chips Ahoy and a tin drum of Charles Chips. Thanks, mom!   

Now these are just cool

Thanks for asking...yes, I'm doing quite well after a little L5-S1 disk surgery last month. Had I sat at an ergonomic desk back in the day (example of the Perch School Desk above) maybe I could have avoided the knife while boosting the educational impact of my parents' hard-earned dollars. These beauts have a cup holder as well...maybe we should consider so that the lads have access to their brain-stimulant beverages whist comfortably surviving their lessons.

Choose Well

It's Healthy Choices Week at Memphis City Schools. While every day is a day to choose healthfully, to choose wisely at MUS, maybe we could learn a thing or two from the City Schools' programming.

New Poll, Lunch and Your Son's Eating Habits

A few years ago when I was active in the Leadership Academy's Fellows Program, my class was confronted by the national health problems stemming from poor diet and exercise. Of particular interest to us were the findings the Healthy Memphis Common Table introduced. Type II Diabetes is a serious threat in Memphis, and we in the Lower School have some walking time bombs, if I may be frank. We are curious as to your responses in this week's poll.