2008 Healthy Schools Heroes
Every
year, to mark the anniversary of the March 18, 1937 Texas School
Explosion, Healthy Kids salutes Healthy Schools Heroes who demonstrate
extraordinary responsibility and inspirational leadership to protect
children and teachers from chemical hazards in schools.
The
Healthy Schools Hero Award is an annual opportunity to remember the
worst school disaster in American history as a case study and
cautionary tale. It can inspire us to break the silence about school
hazards and to prioritize the values and technical skills we need to
live safely with 21st century chemicals and technology. It prompts us
to take action to save lives in today's schools where explosives and
other hazardous materials in labs, closets and storerooms are routinely
ignored.
The Healthy Schools Hero Award 2008
goes to a TEAM of five people who demonstrate how state and federal
agencies can take leadership for school safety. They
are heroes for their collective sense of responsibility, inspirational
leadership, and exemplary persistence and courage that has protected
thousands of children from laboratory chemicals and other hazards and
unhealthy school conditions." wrote Randy Brown, of the US EPA, Region
8 (8P-TA), Tribal Assistance Program, Denver, CO.
Brown's nomination detailed the extraordinary amounts and types of explosives and other chemical hazards the team cleared out of tribal and rural schools.
Brown's nomination detailed the extraordinary amounts and types of explosives and other chemical hazards the team cleared out of tribal and rural schools.
Brown also wrote,
I
have observed the collective efforts of a collaborative team of
professionals dedicated to making tribal and rural schools safer from
chemical and explosive hazards for school children, teachers, and
administrators throughout Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Colorado.
Together
this team has accomplished tasks that would have been impossible for an
individual to accomplish. This work has been ongoing for the last few
years...
This team has used a very practical
process and cost saving measures to reduce risk to chemical exposure.
The team has worked tirelessly to improve chemical safety school
conditions for children...
Members of the team
are working with the US EPA Office of Solid Waste to produce a video of
school chemical cleanout activities at Wyoming Indian School in Ethete,
Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The video will be used to
demonstrate how industry can help and how any activity by school
administrators can be helpful to make schools safer for school children.
Voices of History
In
1937, in the small oil-rich town of New London, Texas, a series of
decisions to cut costs in the new junior-senior high school's heating
system led to a gas leak in the unvented basement that led to an
explosion that destroyed the modern, steel-framed school building. At
least 319 people died, mostly children.
Surprisingly,
no one was held responsible because the Court of Inquiry concluded that
"school officials were just 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." (Court of
Inquiry, 1937)
The disaster resulted in a law
requiring that a warning odor be added to natural gas, thus saving
millions of lives all over the world. Texas created the Texas
Engineering Practice Act to set professional standards for public
buildings to "safeguard life, health, and property and protect the
public welfare."
However, the Court's other
important safety recommendations have yet to be implemented in most
21st century schools. The Court recommended that schools need: 1)
technically trained administrators for modern school systems, 2) rigid
inspections and more widespread public education about avoiding and
managing hazards, and 3) a comprehensive, rational safety code.
Today,
there is an extensive website of primary source materials and a museum
dedicated to remembering the "lost generation," to documenting the
story of their beloved community, the explosion and its aftermath, and
to preserving its legacy for future generations. London Museum and Tea
Room, New London, Texas 75682. (903) 895-4602 or (903) 561-7256
Other Inspiring 2008 Hero Nominees
Nominated by Dennis McElroy, PhD, Asst. Professor of Education, Graceland University School of Education
Nominated by Erik A Talley, Chair, Division of Chemical Health and Safety, American Chemical Society, New York
Nominated by Dennis McElroy, PhD, Asst. Professor of Education, Graceland University School of Education
Nominated by Erik A Talley, Chair, Division of Chemical Health and Safety, American Chemical Society, New York
Nominated
by Rick Reibstein of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs, Office of Technical Assistance and Technology
