Air Quality at Columbian School.

Columbian Elementary School, Carthage, has held classes at Fairview Christian Church since December 4, while the Columbian building was cleaned. The carpeting was removed and replaced with vinyl tile. The ceiling tiles were removed and replaced with new tiles. All surfaces were wiped down with a bleach, soap and water solution to sanitize them. The entire building was cleaned as thoroughly as possible.

The Carthage R-9 School District asked Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City to conduct air quality samples at Columbian as this cleanup was concluding. The district proceeded with the testing before the cleanup was completed, so the results would be available prior to the re-occupancy of the building on January 3, 2001. the number of workers and high level of activity in the building while the samples were being collected caused some of the results to be less accurate than desirable, but the following excerpts from the report are noteworthy.

The report states that, "There are no federal, state or local regulations for fungal concentrations in air. Environmental Health literature does not set standards for acceptable indoor concentrations or threshold concentration which might cause allergic symptoms in individuals. There are a few guidelines for determining if the indoor mold levels are excessive. One such guideline is the comparison of indoor to outdoor mold levels. Filtered indoor air is expected to contain fewer fungal spores than outside air. Another guideline is to compare the different type or variety of fungi indoors with those structures found in the outdoor environment."

In applying these measures to Columbian the report stated, "The indoor levels of fungi in the air in the Columbian School at the time of this investigation appear to be well within the levels found in residential and public indoor environments." The report also stated that, "The same species of fungi were found inside the building as found outdoors for that time of year."

The report further stated, "The majority of classrooms sampled were well below the outdoor counts except in areas where ceiling tile installation and repairs were in progress during the sampling." Since the type of testing done recently was different from that done previously, a direct comparison of results is not appropriate. However, the concentrations of mold spores has been significantly reduced throughout the building. Final cleaning to remove dust and debris from the construction project is to be completed this week, so the building will be ready for students and staff on Wednesday, January 3.

The gymnasium floor is the only part of the project that will not be complete as students and staff re-occupy the building. The district plans for the flooring to be installed within the next 4-6 weeks.

Hygrometers will be installed in key locations to monitor humidity in the building. The district will conduct follow-up air samples to monitor air quality.

The district would like the thank the people, businesses and Fairview Christian Church for helping make completion of this project possible.

It’s always tough ta get back ta work after the long weekends. Seems like the day or two off just piles up more ta get done in the short week.

With the holidays over, I’m guessin’ that most are lookin’ forward to gettin’ back to some sort of regular schedule.

Most folks seem to function better with whatever "routine" they are used to. Even the ones who don’t like the idea of bein’ routine actually are a lot more predictable that they may like to appear. Creatures of habit.

It must be one a those tools of survival we have inherited ‘cause it seems so ingrained. Fortunately we have also kept our ability to have a little flexibility from time to time, at least for the holidays.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Services

PRIME TIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

When the big kids are busy doing their homework, try one of these learning activities with your eager 5- or 6-year-old.

• Make puzzles. Cut two magazine pictures, drawings or extra family photos into several large pieces. Mix up the cut shapes. First sort the pieces by picture, then try to put them back together again.

• Play a fun alphabet hunt game.

Help your child print his name on strips of paper, one letter per strip. If your child has friends over, do the same for each of them. Hide the letters in another room, then call out "Time to go on an alphabet hunt!" The kids will love searching for the letters. See how long it takes to spell their names!

• Make a scented picture.

When your child wants to draw a picture, try an unusual technique. Use a piece of sandpaper instead of paper and make the drawing with a cinnamon stick. It’s fun to do and the spicy scent will no doubt send you racing to the bakery for a cinnamon roll snack.