Fw: Do you know an IAQ hero? 2003

[Guest guest]

>

> IAQ LESSONS from the NEW LONDON SCHOOL DISASTER

>

> For Immediate Release, March 4, 2003

> Contact: Ellie Goldberg

> (617) 965-9637, erg_hk@...

> Healthy Kids: The Key to Basics

> www.healthy-kids.info

>

> *************************

> Healthy Kids' IAQ Hero 2003

> len Lawson, Newtown, CT,

> former special education teacher,

> Fairfield Public Schools

> (Details below.)

> *************************

>

> THE STORY

>

> On March 18, 1937, in New London Texas, a gas

> explosion killed nearly three hundred students,

> teachers and visitors while in the supposed safe

> haven of a public school.

>

> An official inquiry into the disaster revealed a

> litany of false economies, expediency and negligence

> in the design, installation and maintenance of the

> heating system, weakness in provisions for ventilation,

> and totally inadequate venting...in the richest school

> district in the nation.

>

> Surprisingly, no one was ever held responsible.

> Instead, the New London Disaster, was attributed

> " to the collective faults of average individuals,

> ignorant or indifferent to the need for precautionary

> measures, where they cannot, in their lack of

> knowledge, visualize a danger or a hazard. "

>

> On March 25, 1937, a nine-year-old survivor,

> addressed the state legislators, urging them to

> make more protective laws. " Our daddies and mothers

> as well as the teachers want to know that when we

> leave our homes in the morning to go to school we

> will come home safely when our lessons are over. "

>

> Legislation was finally passed to add an odorant to

> natural gas. Other expert recommendations included

> " technically trained administrators for modern school

> systems, " " more rigid inspections and more widespread

> public education..., " and " a comprehensive, rational

> safety code. "

>

> Today, 66 years later, we are still waiting to see schools

> follow those recommendations. Millions of children go

> to schools, old and new, that have inadequate ventilation

> systems and extensive safety code violations. These

> children are victims of the same false economies and

> jurisdictional evasions that failed to make safety a

> priority and that led to the loss of so many young

> lives in New London, Texas.

>

> Today it is still rare to find a school where anyone

> has primary responsibility to protect children from

> environmental hazards.

>

> *********************

> Do you know an IAQ Hero?

>

> IAQ heroes are committed to building schools for

> occupancy by children. They recognize that standards,

> building codes, and guidelines that are based on the

> average adult male or workplace regulations are not

> safe for children because children are not little adults.

>

> IAQ heroes understand that when it comes to making

> decisions that affect children, " no risk is acceptable

> if it is avoidable. " They support the rights of parents

> to be involved in the decisions that affect their children.

> They know that without informed parents, there will never

> be enough experts or inspectors to ensure schools are

> the healthy places and safe havens they are supposed

> to be.

>

> IAQ heroes work to educate community members,

> preparing them to exercise their special rights as

> parents, employees, patients, students and citizens.

> They empower them to advocate for precautionary

> standards and protective measures as participants

> in building committees, school health advisory councils,

> site-based management boards, and environmental

> quality teams. They promote child safety standards

> and guidelines for school design, renovation, operation

> and maintenance, pest-proofing, and all activities in

> and around the school.

>

> IAQ heroes serve as environmental health resources

> and mentors to the school community, setting up in

> -house systems for community participation, health

> surveillance, and ongoing hazard identification and

> control.

>

> **********************

> Healthy Kids' IAQ Hero 2003

> len Lawson, Newtown, CT,

> former special education teacher,

> Fairfield Public Schools

>

> Lawson works to promote state standards for

> school maintenance and building renovation.

> Her 'Canary Committee' also backs required

> training for school district personnel on indoor

> air quality procedures... " If in some way my

> testimony helps to protect the basic civil right

> of teachers and students to work in a safe and

> healthy environment, then this will have been

> worth it. "

>

> For more about len Lawson, go to

> http://www.healthykids.info and click on

> " Resources. "

>

> **********************

>

> For more information on the lessons of the New

> London School Disaster, on becoming an IAQ hero,

> and to help promote March 18 as National Healthy

> Schools Day contact Ellie Goldberg, HEALTHY KIDS:

> THE KEY TO BASICS, erg_hk@...

>

> REFERENCES/Resources

>

> * New London School Disaster Museum

> http:// www.tyler.net/tyr7020/nlmuseum.htm

>

> *New London Articles, Testimonials

> http://www.tyler.net/tyr7020/nlondon.htm

>

> * New London School Disaster Photos

> http://www.tyler.net/tyr7020/nlpics.htm

>

> *The New London,Texas School Explosion

> (Photos, testimonials, and more)

> http://www.nlse.org

>

> * Living Lessons from the New London Explosion,

> 1938, R. L. , New London TX, The Parthenon

> Press, Nashville, TN

>

> *Video: The Day A Generation Died, Tyler,

> TX: Stars, 1989. A Jerry Gumbert Production

>

> * Video: The Origin of the Texas Engineering

> License, Hali Ummel, Austin, Texas, 1997.

>

>

> HEALTHY SCHOOLS RESOURCES

>

> Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition

> Against the Misuse of Pesticides

> www.beyondpesticides.org

>

> Building Science Corporation

> www.buildingscience.com

>

> Center for Health Environment and Justice,

> Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign,

> www.chej.org

>

> Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

> www.healthyschools.org

>

> Massachusetts Healthy Schools Network

> www.mphaweb.org/pol_schools.html

>

> * MA Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment

> Emergency Response/Indoor Air Quality Unit School

> Reports: www.state.ma.us/dph/beha/IAQ/reports/reports.htm

>

> National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities

> www.edfacilities.org

>

> Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides,

> Unthinkable Risk: How Children Are Exposed and

> Harmed When Pesticides Are Used at School,

> April, 2000 www.pesticide.org

>

> Ellie Goldberg, MEd., Healthy Kids: The Key to Basics

> Promoting health and educational equity for students

> with asthma and other chronic health conditions

> erg_hk@... http://www.healthy-kids.info

>

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