December 03, 2013

Who Is Your 2014 Healthy Schools Hero?
Please post. Please forward.
Attention:  Science educators, STEM advocates, professionals in public health, school health, environmental health, facilities management, IAQ, IPM, health and safety, lab safety, school security, emergency and risk management, asthma educators, first responders, school administrators, nurses, advocates, parents and students.

Do you know someone whose sense of responsibility, inspirational leadership, and exemplary persistence and courage protects children from school hazards and unhealthy school conditions?

Send your hero's story, name, and email/phone # by February 1, 2014 to healthykids@rcn.com

The annual Healthy Kids Healthy Schools Hero Award was created as an annual opportunity to tell the story of the 1937 Texas School Explosion and to inspire leadership to protect children from the chemical hazards and unhealthy conditions in today's schools.  (HEROES 2004 - 2013)

March 18, 2014 is the 77th anniversary of the 1937 Texas School Explosion -- the worst school disaster in American history. Just minutes before the end of the school day, a gas explosion killed more than 300 people, mostly students. In their new state-of-the-art public school no expense had been spared except when it came to safety.

Lessons Learned. Lives Saved. The disaster resulted in a law that required adding a warning odor to natural gas, thus saving millions of lives all over the world. However, the false economies and short-sighted decisions that led to the 1937 explosion are still common in too many schools today. 

The Unfinished Legacy: Leadership for Excellence Needed.  The story of the 1937 Texas School Explosion needs to be part of our national legacy. Let's make March 18 an annual day to prioritize the values and technical skills we need to live safely with 21st century chemicals and technology.

Send your hero's story, name, and email/phone # by February 1, 2014 to healthykids@rcn.com.

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*Photo (Ellie Goldberg, March 2005) 
The cenotaph, erected in 1939 is the memorial to victims of the 1937 school explosion. The sculptural block of Texas granite depicts twelve life-size figures, representing children coming to school, bringing gifts and handing in homework to two teachers. Around the inside of the base are the individual names of those who died.  The Egyptians defined a cenotaph as a symbolic tomb, honoring the dead but not containing the body. It is a sepulchral monument erected to commemorate a person or persons buried elsewhere.