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Kids rock in diabetes battle
Elementary school kids walk for diabetes cureDate published: 5/13/2008 By hugh muir Round and round they walked and ran, the very picture of energetic kids. Among them, as bouncy as the rest, were a few for whom the three-day event could change their lives. It was Conway Elementary School's first Walk to Cure Juvenile Diabetes, technically known as Type 1. The walk was organized by Susan Sprow, whose second-grade daughter, Jennifer, has Type 1 diabetes. The walk is a national event sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Its Virginia headquarters is in Richmond. Over three days last week at Conway Elementary in Falmouth, some 650 second- through fifth-graders each walked about a mile and a half. For two days, groups of 50 circled the 170-foot perimeter of the Activities Room for 45 minutes or, on the one day it didn't rain, they ran around the outside of the school. The object was to raise money for the research foundation. This year's inaugural event at Conway raised $391. The walkers found sponsors and filled envelopes with the proceeds, which will be sent to Richmond. One wall in a corridor is covered with paper silhouettes of sneakers, each one with a student's name representing $1 raised. Jennifer and her good friend Emily Clark, a matching cherub-faced second-grader who also has Type 1, are in the same class. "It's wonderful they are together," said Emily's mother, Renee Clark. "They don't feel as different from the rest, not as isolated." That is true for another reason, too. Their teacher, Jane Kolakowski, has Type 2 diabetes. She radiates good health. "I help take care of them," she said. "When their blood sugar gets too low, I give them something helpful to drink and send them off to the school nurse." And that, says the nurse, Beth Froehlich, "is an ideal arrangement." Jennifer and Emily also can take care of themselves. Each wears an insulin pump in a small pouch on her waistband. If they feel a sugar imbalance in their system, they press a little button that adds insulin to their bloodstream. They can also check themselves for low sugar levels by making a tiny needle-prick at the end of a finger (or toe) and testing the blood droplet with a meter they have in their pouch.
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 5/13/2008
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