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Students at two local elementary schools will have a new way to “fill up” during the day, thanks to a grant supplied by Delta Dental.
Part of Delta Dental’s Rethink Your Drink: Water’s Cool at School program, an existing water fountain at Emerson Hough Elementary and Thomas Jefferson Elementary will be replaced with Elkay water fountain/bottle filling stations by Oak Park-based Balfrey & Johnston. The new water fountains will feature a bottle filling station, which will make it easier for students to top off their water bottles during the day.
In addition to the new fountains, each school will also receive a water bottle and a toothbrush for each student, as well as $500 to encourage students to drink more water. Emerson Hough Principal Jolene Comer said she isn’t sure how many students bring a water bottle to school with them each day, but when she walks through the classrooms there are always lots of water bottles sitting on student’s desks.
“ I’m really excited to see that we won,” Comer said. “It’ll replace an older water fountain that doesn’t work very well.”
Comer said the new water fountain will go in a location near the school’s gym, making it easy for students to access the fountain between classes and after activities. Laurie Kramer, the nurse at Emerson Hough who wrote the grant for the water fountain, said it’s important for elementary students to learn to take care of their teeth. Drinking more water, and cutting out soda and other sugary drinks goes a long way toward preventing tooth disease, Kramer said.
“ It’s huge, especially because if we don’t start this now, once they get all of their permanent teeth, they run the risk of damage to all of those teeth,” Kramer said. “If you start these good habits when they’re young hopefully they’ll carry over.”
More than 100 schools applied for the grants, and the selection process took into account different criteria; including the age of the building, creativity of their applications, percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, and geographic location. Emerson Hough has the highest percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced prices lunches in the Newton Community School district, with more 75 percent of students eligible for the program. Making sure students have enough to drink is important, Kramer said.
“ We have a lot of health needs in our district, so we have kids who need to be drinking their water,” Kramer said.
Kramer said that she was surprised to found out that the school’s grant application had been accepted. After submitting the application she received an email letting her know that a large number of schools had applied for the grant. When she found out she won earlier this month she was ecstatic.
“ Considering that this is only my second year in this building I don’t know as much about this building as other people who’ve been in their buildings longer,” Kramer said.
Kramer said she isn’t sure yet how the school will use the $500 they’ve received to promote dental education, but said plans are underway to host a school-wide assembly to present each student with their new water bottles. She wants to make sure students know how to work the new water fountain.
While she wrote the grant, Kramer said it wouldn’t be fair to take all of the credit for the water fountain, she said she’d received plenty of help and encouragement from other staff members during the process, particularly when she had to fill out information about the age of the building.
“ I work in a district where we all work together, I just happened to be the person who filled out the paperwork,” Kramer said. “I’m just a part of the team who works here.”
Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com