ONE AMAZING KID

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amazing kid

After picking up bowling less than two years before, Jordan Wingerter quickly advanced in the sport to finish second in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association State bowling singles tournament as a freshman and bowled her new high score of 255. “My dad is the one who really made me realize I have such a passion for this sport,” Jordan, 15, says. Although no one else in her family bowls, her parents, David Wingerter and Susan David, and older brother Logan recognize and support Jordan’s natural talent. Now a tenth grader at St. Joseph’s Academy, Jordan’s school coach Shelly O’Dowd has also been a driver of Jordan’s success. “I never knew that she was going to have such high expectations for me or that I could perform so well,” Jordan says. Jordan also works with a personal coach, Page Dew. “He’s also one of the main reasons I perform so well and has helped me learn many important life lessons.” Bowling during COVID-19 restrictions added a new challenge of competing in a mask. Although players were allowed to remove their masks for their approach, Jordan kept hers on the whole time. The sport’s season stretches from February through the summer, with school and league competitions, so Jordan hasn’t participated in other high school sports. Jordan loves to read, and math is one of her favorite subjects. This amazing kid plans to continue to bowl competitively and hopes to earn college scholarships. ■

LOCAL CHESS CHAMPION WINS STATE COMPETITION

Matteo Runge, seventh grader at Baton Rouge International School, won first place in the middle school division of the Louisiana Chess Association 2021 Scholastic Championship. Matteo swept all five matches at the competition in New Orleans. He will represent the state in a national tournament that will take place in New Jersey, the Dewain Barber National Tournament of Middle School State Champions. The winner of the Barber tournament will qualify for further national and international chess championships. The BRIS middle school chess team finished second in the state team competition and includes Matteo, Isabelle Kennedy, Lana Bruinsma, Cordell Saunders, Joaquin Torres, Jonah Kennedy, and Tom Bruinsma.

The 2021 National Elementary Beta Convention honored students from Oak Grove Primary School in Prairieville with 17 awards in categories including language arts, speech, technology, engineering, marketing, and creative writing. At the event held at Walt Disney World, Olivia Arceneaux was elected as national president through popular vote. Luke Lyons was selected as a national leadership representative through an interview process that included fourth through eighth graders. Ashley Carter Townsend is the school’s Beta Club sponsor and K-5 STEM teacher, and Sloane Braud Beyer and Bryn Roberts are the school’s club co-sponsors. ■ beta club.org Three students at Episcopal School of Baton Rouge have been honored for excellence in mathematics. Ninth graders Kathy Hu and Ivy Jiang received the Maryam Mirzakhani Certificate of Excellence for their scores on the Mathematical Association of America’s AMC 10A competition. Kathy and Ivy are two of only five students in the Louisiana/Mississippi region to earn the certificates. Sixth grader Meg Kantrow earned the DE Shaw Group Certificate of Excellence for her score on the association’s AMC 8 competition. The certificate is awarded to the top five female scorers in the region. The association hosts competitions for middle and high school students to encourage a love of math and to boost analytical skills among competitors.

OAK GROVE BETA TEAM SEES NATIONAL SUCCESS EPISCOPAL STUDENTS HONORED FOR MATH SKILLS

MATH SKILLS BOOSTED AT PARK ELEMENTARY

Keeping math skills strong during summer is a challenge. Math & Me, a program from ExxonMobil, Volunteers in Public Schools and Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, was designed to bridge the gap between summer vacation and the start of the new school year. The initiative paired kindergarteners enrolled in summer school at Park Elementary with high school BRYC fellows, and they spent an hour together each week working to improve basic math skills. Fellows used guided lessons and resources from VIPS EveryOne Counts program to focus on addition, subtraction, place value and measurement. “We are excited that we can bring organizations together with a focus on math that supports our public school students,” says VIPS Executive Director Judy K. Bethly. ■ vipsbr.org

LIVINGSTON HIRING SCHOOL NURSES

PARKVIEW NAMES BASEBALL COACH

Seventeen new licensed practical nurses will be hired for the 2021-22 school year in Livingston, effectively enlarging the district’s nurse pool to have one for each elementary campus. The new hires will bring the total to 49 school nurses to meet the increased need for on-campus medical staff. “The COVID pandemic has increased the demand for healthcare professionals to be on our campuses to respond to the needs of our students,” says Superintendent Joe Murphy. “This is especially the case for those students who lack sufficient private healthcare. In many cases, our school nurses are the frontline providers for these children.” Because of grants and Medicaid reimbursements, the initiative has the potential to be cost neutral for the district.

Phillip Hawke will become the fifth head baseball coach in Parkview Baptist School’s program history. He has 16 years of coaching experience, most recently three years as head coach at Liberty Magnet High School in Baton Rouge. Before that, Hawke was assistant baseball coach at Parkview. “I’m extremely humbled and honored for the opportunity to come back to Parkview Baptist and lead this great program,” Hawke says. “Parkview has been a special place for my family and I for many years now. I look forward to meeting with everyone and building on a winning tradition.” Last season, the Eagles were 33-2 and finished as Division II state runners up. Hawke and his wife Cindy have a fouryear-old daughter, Brynlee.

An EYE on Vision Health

PROTECTING CHILDREN’S EYESIGHT

BY SARAH BATROUS PHOTO BY KLEINPETER PHOTOGRAPHY 2020-21 COVER KID BROOKS C.

PODCAST We all grew up with parents (or grandparents!) who were concerned about protecting our eyes. While watching television, we often heard: “Don’t sit so close!” or “Why don’t you go outside instead?” Today’s children are immersed even more in a virtual world–especially after moving online for school during the pandemic. Now, more than ever, we ask ourselves, were our parents’ concerns correct? What can we do to help our children preserve their eyes?

Can vision issues be prevented?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the best way to prevent vision impairments or vision loss is to start early. Frequent checkups are vital for a person’s overall eye health. This is especially the case for children. The CDC shares, “Though people tend to have more vision problems as they get older, children need eye exams to ensure healthy vision, too. But only 39 percent of preschool children have had their vision tested, which is needed to diagnose eye diseases.” Without consistent examinations, their vision would continue to worsen. “The first signs of vision loss in a child include squinting, a misaligned eye, abnormal eye movements, chronic tearing, a white instead of a black pupil, constant eye rubbing, or holding reading material too close to the face,” says Dr. Nick Frisard, an ophthalmologist with The Baton Rouge Clinic. Parents should keep these warning signs in mind and consult with their children’s doctors if these symptoms are observed.

When should my child’s vision be checked?

The American Academy for Ophthalmology recommends that children “from one month to four years of age have their ocular health assessed at each routine well-child visit.” Regular assessments at each doctor’s visit should help assess and assuage any concerns The CDC offers parents a timeline of what ages are best to visit an eye care center or vision specialist:

■ Newborn to three months ■ Six months to one year ■ About three years ■ About five years

When it comes to these checkups, your child has nothing to be afraid about. “Visual screenings are simple noninvasive exams that do not require drops. Recent technological advancements have made automated vision screenings possible through the use of special cameras. These photo screenings are highly ef-

fective at detecting eye diseases or the need for glasses, and may be performed at your child’s school or pediatrician’s office,” notes Dr. Frisard.

How can I protect my child’s vision?

The most stressed advice is to get regular eye exams. Staying on top of these routine visits can spare your child a lot of grief. Plenty of complications can be prevented or treated by early detection. “Amblyopia, the most common cause of vision damage in children, develops because one or both eyes do not see clearly or are misaligned. If amblyopia is corrected early, usually before age 11 to 13, it can be reversed and vision restored. Less common childhood eye diseases such as glaucoma cause visual damage that is more difficult to reverse. The primary goal is early detection so that damage can be prevented through medications and surgery,” says Dr. Frisard. The CDC assures that this is not the only thing parents can do to help their children. You can also make sure your child has a healthy diet. Leafy greens like spinach or kale are excellent for eye health. Also, be sure to know your family’s eye health history. Plenty of eye-related issues stem from genetic predisposition and knowledge is prevention. Finally, sunglasses aren’t only for summer vacations to the beach. Regular wearing of sunglasses that block out 99-100 percent of UV-A and UV-B radiation from the sun’s rays can help prevent vision damage.

Help your child be easy on their eyes!

What do we do when we’re stressed? We take breaks. The eyes need breaks, too. The CDC promotes the 20-20-20 rule that states that for every 20 minutes focusing on one thing, you should look away about 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds. Dr. Frisard suggests the following for parents to utilize to help reduce eye strain from electronics. The first is to increase the distance between your child’s eyes to the screen by about an arm’s length. This distance helps relax the muscle in the eye that squeezes to view objects up-close. He also encourages parents to reduce the screen’s brightness while using a matte screen filter to reduce glare. We may not know for sure if every solution our parents had was correct. However, armed with new knowledge, we can now detect, treat, and prevent issues with our children’s vision. ■

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