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April - 2012

In this issue:

From the Head of School – pg. 2

Upcoming Events – pg. 4

Headlines – pg. 5

Arts – pg. 12

Athletics – pg. 13

WAPA Notes and News – pg. 14

For the College Bound – pg. 15

Healthful Hints – pg. 17

Links

School Calendars

Scenes from School

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From the Head of School

Dear Westchester Families and Friends,

We've been adding lots of i's and e's to our words lately. Mail has been

replaced with "email," books with "iBooks" or "ebooks," and I hear we

even have replaced clouds with something called "iCloud" (though I'm

sure real clouds are still far more magnificent). Suffice to say that the

world has changed beneath our feet in a very short time, altering in

many powerful ways how we communicate, access information,

research, and organize our days.

For us grown-ups, this tectonic shift has altered how we live, make

phone calls, read, make appointments, and find directions to the

airport. For our children, however, what we see as profound change is

nothing more than the normal day-to-day. If we are immigrants in this

new digital land, our children are natives who have never known a world without cell phones,

text messages, ubiquitous Internet access, or online shopping. Where we struggle to find the

power button on our new phones, our children have a seemingly innate ability to turn it on

and find a way to play their favorite game within seconds. Oftentimes, we find ourselves

turning to them for help when we struggle to make our new-found devices do what we want

them to do; they are naturally comfortable where we are hesitant and anxious.

This situation presents a particularly interesting set of challenges for us, for in the midst of this

often frustrating situation, we find ourselves confronted with the need to teach our children

how to be thoughtful, resourceful, compassionate, and, perhaps most of all, safe in an

electronic world we only partially understand. Indeed, given the multiplicity of ways that our

children are interacting and communicating with one another and with the world, the need

for us to teach them how to carry themselves into this arena so new to us and so familiar to

them is both terribly important and immensely challenging.

For those of us who work in schools, the questions are equally complex and important. Much

has been written about the ways in which the emergence of the Internet will have cultural

and historical impact in line with that of the invention of the printing press; all of us now have

access to boundless amounts of information, all of it a quick Google search away. Traditional

models of teaching and learning have for hundreds of years hinged on the teacher's role as

the keeper and sharer of essential information--be it factual, conceptual, or theoretical--and

class consisted mostly of teachers sharing this knowledge with their students who dutifully took

it in. Students, who not long ago were charged with listening and learning what they needed

to know from a team of teachers in schools, now have nearly instant access to information,

and the teacher's role in the learning process has changed and expanded in light of this shift.

Cobb Atkinson Photo by Photo Innovations

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These new challenges sit at the heart of our work to review and improve our work as a school,

and integrating technology into the teaching and learning process is one of a handful of

strategic goals articulated by the Board of Trustees. WCDS is in the fortunate position of

having a well-equipped campus with regard to technology infrastructure and equipment; our

next step will be to explore the rich array of challenges and opportunities to be found as we

integrate technology into day-to-day life and instruction.

Perhaps the most important question is not so much "What does all of this mean?" but rather

"What does all of this mean for us?" Much of what is powerful about our school stems from the

wonderful and distinct culture that has been created on campus and in our school

community, and whenever we begin to talk about changes, we always need to have in clear

view the need to protect that which we value about our school as we work to better

ourselves. There always seems to be talk about revolution and reform in the American

educational dialogue, but ours is not a school in need of reform. There are certainly lots of

wonderful opportunities for us to become even better by integrating technology, but we

should, in the midst of these innovations and changes, hold fast to the heart of who we are

and what we do—a school that teach children to strive for excellence in a close-knit, caring,

and supportive community.

Cobb Atkinson

Head of School

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News of Note - Upcoming Events

Car Wash of the Century

Tuesday, April 10, 3:15 – 6:00 p.m.

Hosted by NHS – donations accepted

Class Photos

Grades K – 5 and Seniors – Wednesday, April 11

Churros Breakfast

Thursday, April 12, 7:15 a.m., Cafetorium

Grandparents’ Day

Friday, April 13, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Invitations have been sent! If your grandparent did not receive one, please contact the

Development Office at 336.822.4021.

Upper School Prom

Saturday, April 14 at the String and Splinter Club

Celebration of the Arts

Sunday, April 15, 5:00 p.m., in Rives Cafetorium

Spring Concert, Grades 3 - 5

Thursday, April 19, 7:00 p.m.

Spring Concert, Grades K -2

Thursday, April 26, 6:30 p.m.

Spring Concert, Grades 6 - 12

Tuesday, May 1, 7:00 p.m.

Blue and White Gala Auction, "Once in a Blue Moon"

Saturday, May 5, 5:30 p.m.

Be sure to RSVP today for Westchester's largest annual fundraising event featuring live and

silent auctions, dinner, dancing, and more! Visit the auction page for complete details!

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News of Note – Headlines

Sophomore Selected for Governor’s School

Sophomore Andrew Foreman has been

selected to attend North Carolina’s Governor’s

School in the field of instrumental music. He will

attend Governor’s School West at Salem

College in Winston-Salem this summer.

Andrew began playing violin at age 4 and

currently studies with Dr. Jacqui Carrasco at

Wake Forest University. In the summer of 2010, he

participated in the Eastern Music Festival at

Guilford College. A member of the Winston-

Salem Youth Orchestra since 2007, he has

served as concertmaster for the past two years.

He also plays in the youth orchestra's quartet. He

is a member of the Piedmont Violin Ensemble,

which performed at the American String

Teachers Association conference in Atlanta. This winter he participated in the Youth

Orchestra's concerto competition playing the Bruch Concerto No. 1 (first movement). He will

perform this piece with the Youth Orchestra at their final concert on May 14 at the Stevens

Center in Winston-Salem. Andrew is the son of Art and Martha Foreman of Winston-Salem.

The Governor's School of North Carolina is a highly selective, six-week summer residential

program for intellectually gifted high school students. The program integrates academic

disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of the two campuses: Governor’s School

West and Governor’s School East at Meredith College in Raleigh.

Seniors Vote on Human Relations Award

Alex Simpson was voted by the seniors as the recipient of this year’s Human Relations Award.

Alex will receive her award from the director of High Point Human Relations Department at

Westchester’s Upper School Awards Day.

Students Attend Human Relations Day

Nine WCDS students attended the High Point

Student Human Relations Day on March 21 at the

Williams Memorial CME Church. The High Point

Student Human Relations Commission is

comprised of a diverse array of public, private,

and home-schooled students, grades 9-12, across

the greater High Point area. At the retreat,

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students discussed social justice and human rights issues that face the world, deliberated with

different voices and practiced active listening, discovered how to make extraordinary

changes in their schools and in the community, and discussed ways to prevent bullying, bias,

bigotry, and prejudice from infecting their schools. Students attending were freshman Kaitlyn

Shapiro; sophomore Kerstin Spath; juniors Charlie Branson, Kristine Chukwuma, Busra Guner,

Oby Nwamu (shown in photo), Kimberly Watson; and seniors Sunam Dhakal and Kelly Patram.

EBOB Competes at Cannon School

Westchester’s Elementary Battle of the

Books team has 14 members this year:

Austin Bonomo, Ellison Beaver, Carson

Boyette, Alexander Chinnasami,

Zachary Elsayed, Annabelle Fisher,

Reece Hetley, Rayha Haque, Devon

Jernigan, Dylan Jernigan, Aidan Lim,

Stuart Nunn, Kaitlyn Palmer, and Ava

Tuggle. The team began reading

selections from a list of 18 books last

summer and continued to read and

quiz each other on Thursdays during

lunch and at their weekly meeting. The program is run by the North Carolina School Library

and Media Association. Each year our elementary team competes against other

independent schools. This year our team traveled to Cannon School and did a great job

representing Westchester! Coaches for our team this year are Mrs. Debi Jones, Mrs. Vicki Sloop,

and Mrs. Judy Tomlinson.

Operation Smile Hosts Special Guest

On Thursday, March 1, Westchester's Operation Smile Club invited Beth

Marshall, director of the Operation Smile Carolinas Chapter in Greensboro,

NC, to speak to the Upper School about the mission of Operation Smile and

the high school club’s duties. She also showed an emotional video from an

Operation Smile leadership conference in Rwanda in 2010-2011, and the

Upper School students were very moved by the presentation.

“Operation Smile Club believes that this presentation, and mostly the video,

gave the students an idea of what Operation Smile is all about, and what

their school's club is raising awareness for,” said Club President Katarina Terentieva.

Junior is Willow Creek Rotary Student of the Month

Junior Mary Marshall Fariss is Willow Creek Rotary’s Student of the Month for March. She is the

daughter of Lore and Marcus Fariss of High Point.

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Mary Marshall (in photo with Willow

Creek Rotary President Trish Perkins)

was recognized for her leadership,

scholarship, and community service.

During her speech to the club on

March 1, Mary Marshall shared about

her volunteer work at the Macedonia

Center with the Learning Together

program. This program works with

families for which English is not their first

language. Parents learn English while

their children get help with homework.

Mary Marshall has worked with the

program for the past three years, primarily with Sudanese students. She said she finds it

especially rewarding when a student with whom she has worked - especially one who has

been resistant to learning - makes a good grade on a test or homework assignment.

Ms. Stinson Soliloquizes at NC Shakes Event

Upper School English teacher Barb Stinson was on hand at the North Carolina Shakespeare

Festival’s Trustees’ Circle Dinner on March 19 with a riveting interlude from The Taming of the

Shrew.

WCDS Hosts Tom Walter for NCAA Event

Please join us for an informative evening featuring keynote speaker Tom Walter, Head Baseball

Coach at Wake Forest University, on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the Finch Center for

Academic and Athletic Excellence.

Following the keynote address will be a panel discussion on playing sports at the collegiate

level featuring:

Betty Flythe, Westchester Country Day School Academic Dean and College Placement

Advisor

Kenny Herbst, Professor at Wake Forest University and former Wake Forest basketball

student-athlete

Doreen Kelly, Head of School at Ravenscroft in Raleigh, N.C.

Jared Micklos, Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance with High Point University

Riley Skinner, former quarterback with Wake Forest University Demon Deacons

Following the panel, the conversation continues in breakout sessions by sport/topic. Dinner will

be available for $5 per person. Please RSVP by April 13.

If you are unable to attend, you can watch live on pay-per-view at www.coachesaid.com.

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Westchester Equestrians Show Skills at Competition

The following Westchester

students were members of the

IEA Equestrian Team for Fox Run

Farms this year: Erica Boyle, Mary

Marshall Fariss, Elizabeth Folk,

Laura Folk, and Rachael

Ormond.

The team (shown at right in

Chatham Hall in Virginia) placed

3rd in our region out of 12 other

teams and traveled to Owings

Mill, Maryland, to compete in the

zone competition against teams

from North Carolina, Virginia,

Maryland, West Virginia,

Washington, D.C., and Delaware. In addition, riders could qualify individually for the regional

and zone competition - Mary Marshall, Elizabeth, Laura, and Erica competed at the regional

level. Laura placed high enough in the regional competition to travel to zones where she

placed second, qualifying her for the national competition in Syracuse, New York, in April.

The high school team competed at the regional level. Both Mary Marshall and Elizabeth

represented their team at the zones and received ribbons in their classes against some of the

top riders in the zone and the country. The team has grown from three riders in the first year to

a group of 16 this year. Coached by Cathy Schlaeppi, who also coaches the High Point

University equestrian program, the team has been very successful.

Senior is High Point Rotary Club Student of the Month

Senior Tyler Thompson was named the March High Point Rotary

Club Student of the Month. He is the son of Pete and Jo

Thompson of High Point.

Tyler is a founding member of the school’s Future Business

Leaders and its current president. He has galvanized support for

the school’s participation in the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and has

coached soccer there. He is a top academic student, a

member of the National Honor Society, a recognized student

athlete, and president of the Student Government Association.

Ms. Cunningham wrote in his nomination to the club: “No

student could take on as many responsibilities and

accomplished all that he has without making personal

sacrifices. If Tyler has learned anything from his community

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activism, it is that the reward of giving to others by far exceeds any personal gain that could

otherwise have come his way.”

Spring Book Fair a Success

Westchester's Spring Scholastic Book Fair in March was a hit! We all had fun with the luau

theme and students picked up lots of great new reads!

Thank you to Kim Foster and Maria Puschinsky, who were our volunteer book fair co-chairs!

Their assistance to our library staff and hard work made our book fair a success - over $500 of

hard cover books were added to our library collection and over $450 of books were added to

our teachers’ classroom collections. In addition, the book fair brought in $500 of profit!

A big thank you also to Belinda Brown, Roza Hall, Nandita Harish, Mary Niner, Amy O'Keeffe,

Angela Shaw, and Gloria Wilson for their help and time donated to set up, take down, or help

students at the book fair. We had a great team, and we so appreciate you! Thank you!!

Parent Resources Available in Business Directory

Don’t forget to check the online Business Directory when you are looking for goods or services!

The listings include some wonderful deals for Westchester families, and there is a list of students

willing to babysit as well! If you are interested in having your business included, please contact

webmaster@westchestercds.org.

Two Odyssey Teams Place at Regionals

Westchester’s “To Be or Not to Be”

Odyssey of the Mind Team comprised

of Blake Lawson (from left), Ava

Tuggle, Jamie Atkinson, Stephen

McLean, Anna Blackman, Mikey

Schwartz, Georgia Anne Brumfield

(not pictured), and coaches Janie

Robinson and Deb Tuggle, placed 2nd

in their division at the regional

competition in Boone on March 3,

which qualified them for the state

competition March 31 at Wingate

University. WCDS’s “Ooh-Motional

Vehicle” team, comprised of

Alexander Chinnasami, Meredith

Harron, Tanner Harron, Dory Keever,

Mollie McWhorter, Jack Merritt, Sophia

Singer, and coaches Gwen Russell

and Catherine Tanner-Harron, placed 3rd. Six Westchester teams competed. Visit Scenes from

School to see more photos from the dress rehearsal here at school.

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Envirothon Team Qualifies for

States

Westchester competed in Southern

Piedmont Regional Envirothon

Competition at Catawba College in

Salisbury on March 28. Our first team,

made up of Thomas Freund, Christian

James, Will Thomas, Patrick Williford,

and Luke Vandeplancke, came in 4th

out of 15 teams that competed. This

qualified our students to move on to

the state competition April 20-21 at

Cedarock Park in Burlington. Students

who will be attending that

competition are: Kristine Chukwuma,

Thomas Freund, Christian James, Will Thomas, Kimberly Watson, Lowie Vandeplancke, and

Luke Vandeplancke.

Sixth Graders Visit Mummy Exhibit

The 6th graders visited the Mummies of

the World exhibit at Discovery Place in

Charlotte on Monday, February 27. It was

a science and ancient civilizations

collaboration. Reports Ms. Cunningham:

Our kids were so well-behaved; we even

got a compliment on their behavior from

a visitor viewing the exhibit!”

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Fine Arts News

Westchester is celebrating artistic excellence this spring with all of the Fine Arts represented.

We come back from Spring Break newly energized, showing off for our grandparents on

Friday, April13, and then pulling out all the stops for our annual Celebration of the Arts on

Sunday evening, April 15, at 5:00 p.m. in the Cafetorium. Be sure to send in your RSVP - the

dinner and show are not to be missed.

This year’s spring concert for Grades 3-5 will be April 19 at 7:00 p.m., and the Upper School

Choral Trip to Williamsburg is the weekend of April 20-22. Be sure to be at the Winston-Salem

Dash baseball game on Wednesday, April 25, to hear our Footnotes perform the national

anthem. What a wonderful experience for them! The next evening, April 26, our K-2 students

perform their spring concert at 6:30 p.m.

At our Middle and Upper School choral concert on May 1 at 7:00 p.m., a rocking time will be

had by all! The Lower School visual arts will be represented at the Theater Art Gallery student

show, which opens May 10 at 5:30 p.m., and will run through July.

Get ready to catch that jungle beat with the K-8 musical, Disney’s Jungle Book, Kids, on Friday,

Saturday and Sunday, May 11-13. Catch the preview during the Celebration of the Arts and

come back for all 40+ singing and dancing jungle creatures. A wildly fun time will be had by

all!

Be sure to put the spring recital for dance, violin, and guitar students on your calendar for May

24 at 6:30 p.m. Before you take off for summer, be sure to sign up for our summer arts camps.

Stay creative!

FoFA Announces Mini-Grant Program

Friends of the Fine Arts (FoFA) is excited to announce the creation of an arts-based mini-grant

program at Westchester beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. Faculty and staff, if you have

a classroom, departmental, or school-based need or idea to enhance the learning

environment or bring greater exposure of artistic programs to our students, you will be able to

submit a request form, beginning in May, via two methods – through a link on the FoFA

webpage or in response to the yearly email which includes the form for requesting WAPA

grants. Parents, if you are aware of a community-based artistic program that you believe

would benefit/enhance a classroom, department, or the entire school, you, too, will be able

to submit a request form via the link on the FoFA webpage. Please be aware that all requests

must be submitted for the upcoming school year between May and September. The FoFA

Executive Board will review all requests and bring recommendations to the September

meeting to be approved by members in attendance. This process will help us better budget

for and schedule programs for the entire year. There is a limit to the overall funds allotted for

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the grant program, so make your request early. We look forward to hearing your ideas for the

upcoming year!

In addition, FoFA is also proud to announce the creation of an individual scholarship program

designed to assist those students who are interested in participating in one of the fine arts

based supplementary programs offered here at Westchester. We would like to provide funds

to the parents of a child who are in need of this financial assistance in order to maintain or

begin their child’s interest in dance, guitar, piano, or violin. This scholarship will be

disseminated through the Admissions office with members of FoFA unaware of the recipients’

identity(ies), so please don’t hesitate to contact Kerie Beth Scott with your request. Again,

FoFA looks forward to being able to provide this opportunity to a deserving child each year.

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Westchester Athletics

The WCDS spring athletic season got off to a hot start to match the beautiful, warm weather.

All of our spring teams have an opportunity to win championships, and the next few months

should be extremely exciting.

The TAC Conference Championships will be held at the following venues:

Varsity Girls’ Soccer – Trinity School of Durham – 5/4, 5/7

Varsity Baseball – Westchester – 5/4, 5/7

Varsity Boys’ Tennis – The Elon School – 5/11-5/12

Varsity Golf – Willow Creek – 5/7

Varsity Track – American Hebrew Academy – 5/10

The State Championships will be held at the following venues:

Varsity Girls’ Soccer – Final Four - Caldwell Academy – 5/18-5/19

Varsity Baseball – Final Four - Rocky Mount Academy – 5/18-5/19

Varsity Golf – Mid-Pines in Southern Pines – 5/14-5/15

Varsity Track – High Point University – 5/18-5/19

If you are available to help during the State Championship Track Meet at High Point University,

please contact Adam Schwartz. This is an incredible opportunity for our athletes, and we want

to make sure to leave a “Paw Print” on this great event!

Our Spring Senior Night will be held on April 27 before the Varsity Baseball game at 5:00 p.m.,

and the 2012 Athletic Banquet will be held on campus on May 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Please check the athletic calendar on our website for an updated schedule of events, and

come out to support the Cats!

Westchester Golf Goes Big

Westchester took on all the best public and private high school golfers in the state at the N.C.

High School Invitational and came out on top! Freshman Thomas Walsh took the individual title

and the Wildcats shot 313 for the win - the first time a team from outside of Wake County has

won this tournament in its six-year history! Thomas Walsh shot a 73, Greg Mauldin a 77,

Jonathan DiIanni a 79, and Hardin Councill an 84. Congrats Cats!

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WAPA Notes and News

Message from WAPA President:

I would like to thank all our parents for volunteering this year. I know it seems we are tireless in

our asking for help, but each time a parent steps up, so many exciting things happen.

Whether you volunteered to work Blue/White Day, bought a roll of wrapping paper, donated

snacks for teachers’ lounges, helped a child choose a book at the book fair, enjoyed Hubs

peanuts, decorated for a holiday, delivered Innisbrook to classrooms, planted a flower,

coordinated a grade get-together, packed orders for Hubs, or discussed a book at book club,

you made a huge difference in our school. WAPA was able to donate $15,000 in teacher

mini-grants and $5,000 to the Head of School Discretionary fund for the year 2011-2012.

Last year WAPA added speakers to our regular meetings to make each meeting more

meaningful for our parents. Our April featured speaker will be Emily Fisher, Head of Middle

School, who will speak on service and its importance in the Middle School. All parents are

welcome to WAPA’s last monthly meeting, held in the library on April 12 at 8:15 a.m. If you

have any suggestions for next year’s topics please forward them to Cindy Webb at

cindy.webb@syngenta.com , President Elect.

Sincerely,

Gay James

President

Box Tops:

Thank you for the wonderful support for Box Tops for Education. Continue collecting and

turning in Box Tops through the end of the school year and shopping via Box Tops to earn

electronic Box Tops. Everything you submit will help us jump start next year!

Book Club: The WAPA Book Club will meet on Tuesday April 10th at 8:15 in the library to discuss The Sister

Brothers by Patrick Dewitt. All parents are welcome.

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For the College Bound

Over the course of the third quarter I have met with each student in grades 9 – 11, and we

have discussed his course selection for next year. We have taken a look at how he has done

in classes this year and we’ve tried to spot trends that might indicate the need to make some

adjustment in the student’s approach to his school work. I have also made sure that each

student is taking the courses he needs to meet graduation requirements. These course

requests then went home with the students the last week in March, and parents were asked to

sign off on our selections. The next step in the process involves trying to create a schedule that

will accommodate the myriad student requests – a feat that requires patience, problem-

solving, and a considerable amount of luck. Hopefully, before the students leave for their

summer vacations, they will have a schedule in hand that fulfills their course requests for next

year.

Many of our older Upper School students are interested in taking one or more of the fourteen

AP, or Advanced Placement, courses offered at Westchester. These courses are usually

reserved for juniors and seniors, and offer our Upper School students the opportunity to

experience college-level material while still in high school. Because teachers of these

advanced courses must follow a syllabus established by College Board, they don’t have the

luxury of adjusting the pace of the class to meet individual student needs, nor can they altar

the rigor or the content of the course if they expect to complete the material in advance of

the AP exam. These standardized exams, taken by all of our AP students, are cumulative in

nature and test the students on their mastery of the content of the given AP course. Because

of the rigor and pacing of AP courses, the Curriculum Committee established a set of

guidelines that we use in assessing a student’s readiness to tackle an AP course. The

guidelines include grades in prerequisite classes, standardized test scores, and teacher

recommendations. The Curriculum Committee then reviews the AP requests and sometimes

recommends that a student make adjustments in his schedule, most often by decreasing the

number of AP classes he or she is requesting. Students who do not meet the guidelines for

admission to an AP course by the end of the third quarter may be asked to participate in an

appeal process during which time they will be asked to submit in writing their thoughts about

their preparedness to undertake a given AP offering. At that point a committee reviews the

submissions and makes a final recommendation.

We have attempted to design a process that is thoughtful and takes into consideration what is

in the best interest of each student; it is meant to be inclusive rather than exclusive but, at the

same time, it is designed to place the burden of proof squarely on the shoulders of the student

making the request. Many successful Westchester graduates have gone on to college

without having taken a single AP course while in high school. In fact, it is much more important

that students choose classes in which they will be successful rather than load their schedules

with advanced courses that might result in excessive stress, frustration, and lowered grades.

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AP classes are not for everyone, but for the right student they can provide invaluable insight

into the expectations they will experience when they enter the next leg of their educational

journey.

Betty Flythe, College Placement Advisor

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Healthful Hints from the School Nurse

I know that many of our Westchester students attend summer camps near and far. Most of

these overnight camps require a physical exam. In order to save you time and effort this fall,

print out the Westchester Health Information form from WestNet/Forms and Lists then have the

doctor sign it when you visit his or her office to complete the summer camp forms. It’ll save you

a trip in August!

Many of our students have been experiencing itchy and watery eyes, nasal congestion, runny

nose, headaches, drowsiness, sneezes, and overall distress that accompanies spring allergy

season.

For the last couple of weeks, much of our area has been blanketed with a bright yellow

powder -- pollen from the overly abundant pine trees that sticks to cars, patio furniture, and

even the hair of people who are outside long enough.

While many of us think the yellow film is what causes us to cough, sneeze, and sniffle, experts

say it is more likely that the unseen pollen -- released from oak, hickory, birch, and willow trees

during their reproductive cycle -- is the main culprit.

The sneezing, red, watery eyes, and cough may not be limited to early spring because in the

late spring and early summer, allergies are triggered by grass pollen including Timothy,

Bermuda, orchard, red top, and blue grasses. The late summer and fall are usually the seasons

for weed allergies. Weed triggers include sage brush, pigweed, tumbleweed, and thistle.

The burst of pollen that hit our area and much of the South this year is particularly heavy,

largely because of unseasonably warm weather this winter and a lack of rain. The pollen

count in Winston-Salem has been particularly high at the end of March. Pollen counts are

available to the public at http://www.co.forsyth.nc.us/EAP/pollen_report.aspx. This information

allows parents with children affected by seasonal allergies to better adjust their outdoor

activities on days with higher pollen counts, and reduce related complaints such as sneezing,

stuffy nose, and itchiness of the eyes and throat.

Here are some helpful instructions to reduce or prevent allergy symptoms:

Postpone outdoor activities until later in the morning. Spring pollens are usually emitted

between the hours from 5 – 10 a.m.

Know your local pollen count.

If possible use air conditioning instead of having windows opened.

Stay indoors on hot, dry, and windy days.

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Wash bedding weekly in hot water.

Children should shower and wash their hair every night before going to bed.

Keep outside play clothes in the laundry room and away from the bedroom.

Beth Kennedy, Director of Health Services