Volume 63, Number 23
Azle News
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
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Special Section
ERT puts AISD ahead of AED curve nationally Every campus has a life-saving device by mark k. campbell Azle is different. The school district is so proactive in medical emergencies that the AISD is used by a national organization as a positive example of being prepared. Eagle Heights Elementary Nurse Heather Lee said two people locally have been saved by strategically placed Automated External Defibrillators (AED). “With an AED, anybody can save a life,” Lee said. That occurred on an Azle Junior High football field when a player went into full arrest and was revived in September 2011. Last March, Lee was part of the team that resuscitated a workmate who had a cardiac arrest on Eagle Heights Elementary grounds. Earlier, Lee had assembled an Emergency Response Team (ERT) for just such emergencies. If fact, she had just checked and replaced the AED pads the day of the arrest, she said. Lee came to Azle with an extensive medical background. After graduating from Baylor in 2003, she took a turn through a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. She is also certified in forensics. Lee is a major advocate for AEDs. She said taking immediate action after witnessing a sudden collapse is Eagle Heights Elementary Nurse Heather Lee said Azle is progressive when it comes to utilizing vital. “The most important time is three AEDs. Photo by Mark K. Campbell
to five minutes from arrest to shock,” Lee said. “There is a 70 percent survival rate in that time.” But the success rate drops dramatically after that – for every one minute past five, survival chances drop by 10 percent. Nationally, 600 to 1,000 youth cardiac arrests were reported from 2006 to today, she said. In Texas, the number is 97 and only 32 children survived. “That made me so sad,” Lee said. “Why does that happen if we have the tools to prevent it?” A case in 1999 caused a major shift in childhood cardiac care. In Milwaukee, a teen named Adam collapsed and died. To honor him, his mother began a program called Project ADAM – Access to Defibrillators in Adam’s Memory. Slowly, action began that placed AEDs in schools. But that was not enough. “They weren’t doing anybody any good if they were just sitting there, stuck on the wall,” Lee said. So she acted. Lee not only developed an ERT but saw that the group knew how to react and use the machine in emergencies. In 2007, Texas passed a law that said every public school in the state must have an AED.
Main Street food pantry helping area residents
Ila Truitt, 94, prepares all the produce that Life and Liberty Food Pantry receives. Approximately 150 families are served monthly on East Main Street.
94-year-old woman works on site By Natalie Gentry The Life and Liberty Food Pantry was helping local families in need Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 133 East Main Street in Azle. The food pantry is funded by the Life and Liberty Church in Meadowbrook and has been serving the area for the past two years. Polly Martinez, owner of 1st Choice
Associated Real Estate, donated the space for the pantry. Services are provided every first and third Tuesday of the month. According to Patsy Perry, the food bank administrator, the pantry serves approximately 150 families each month. However, she said they are receiving a lot of new applications.
PLEASE SEE AISD, PAGE 3A.
Volunteers always try to provide a meat in addition to produce, dry good, and deserts if they are available. All of the fruits and vegetables the food bank receives is divided and bagged by 94-year-old Ila Truitt. In addition, Perry makes special boxes for senior citizens an each child in the families that receives assistance to ensure they know they are special.
Photo by Natalie Gentry
Banquet honors AISD students: Optimists gather for 35th time by mark k. campbell Once again, the Azle Optimist Club assembled to recognize some of the top students in the Azle Independent School District. Emceed by Optimist President Edwin Newton, two students from each AISD school gathered at Forte Junior High. Also recognized at the Nov. 13 banquet were Boy Scout Troops Nos. 175 and 243. In all 22 AISD students and Scout representatives received certificates. AISD Superintendent Dr. Ray Lea assisted with passing out the awards. Mayor Alan Brundrett read a proclamation acknowledging Youth Appreciation Week. Honored students were chosen by principals, teachers, and Scout leaders based on community and school activities as well as scholastic achievements.
Receiving certificates: Azle High – Brooke Andrea Smith and Bennett Cole Wendell Azle JH – Kynleigh Browne and Daniel Ruelas Forte JH – Esmeralda “Esme” Silva and Dylan Wilson Azle Elementary – Breton Estes and William “Trey” Gray III Hoover Elementary – Emily McDonald and Edwin Pacheo Cross Timbers Elementary – Amanda White and Lane Autrey Liberty Elementary – Haven Huerta and Charles Westrup Walnut Creek Elementary – Lily Smith and Jack Clark Silver Creek Elementary – Makynna Hinkle and Adam Derda Eagle Heights Elementary – Trinity Thornton and Henry Lalonde Boy Scout Troop 175 – Jacob Gutierrez Boy Scout Troop 243 – Michael
Goldstein Through the 35 years of the banquet, 732 children have been honored. Another 648 AISD kids have been named Texans and Tex-Annes of the Month. The Azle Optimist Club has given $338,890 in scholarships to 283 AHS graduates. The club has purchased $50,410 in Christmas presents for over 1,950 elementary school children through toy programs and angel trees. Another $62,531 was been raised through the last 13 Penny Race programs that benefit Azle children through local charities like the Azle Pastoral Center, the AISD food backpack program, and the Community Caring Center. Finally, local clubs and other youth The top students and Scouts in Azle were honored at the annual events have received over $72,000 Optimist Club Youth Appreciation Banquet at Forte Junior High from the Azle Optimists. Nov. 13. Photo courtesy Lisa Crabtree
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In November 1984, the Azle High School JETS donated an RCA VCR to the AHS science department. (No idea what JETS stood for.).
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