An all too frequently heard question on the path around the Falls the past couple weeks has been “Where has the summer gone?” The almost automatic response from this observer has been, “It’s not gone, it’s still July, and we have a long way to go.”
Reality hit last week when the calendar page turned to August. The dose of cooler weather reinforced the message that the approach of fall was not that far off. The real reminders started coming over the weekend. Apparently, the first weekend in August is the season opener for the back-to-school merchant fliers. The flashy pictures in the ads and the well-designed displays in stores can get students in the mood for that first day of school.
Unfortunately, that first day of school is not about wearing the latest and greatest in school outfits or having the newest designer backpack. There are higher priorities, but still getting a couple of nice things for school can be fun.
Helping with school supplies can be a positive gesture, and even the Packers got into the game this weekend as part of Family Night. As part of the many activities at Lambeau Field, collections of school supplies could be dropped off. These would be distributed through the Salvation Army and a few other organizations. Since the event brings a number of younger fans to experience the stadium, there may have been many families that brought items to share.
This was a great learning opportunity for youngsters to understand that some families may find that getting ready for the start of another school year can be a struggle. Some of the most important lessons in life are not learned in the classroom.
One factor that can necessitate some new purchases for school can be a summer growth spurt. Clothes that fit just fine last spring may be stretched at the seams when fall rolls around. This can be more common with younger students, but growth spurts can occur at many stages of life. That can even be the case for a staff member or two working at the school, and we’re not talking about a growth in height.
Truthfully, school employees, like people in general, are much more concerned about living healthy and weight control than might have been the case a generation ago. Eventually we come to the realization that we are issued only one body, and we need to take care of it if we want it to last. There are no back-to-school sales on body parts.
For several years the district has participated in various wellness programs, many with generous support from health insurance companies. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes.
This year we are taking it a step further. For the past few years as part of the wellness program, employees had the opportunity to participate in a health risk assessment. This was done on a voluntary basis and provided baseline data on a number of health measures. Data would be kept from one year to the next and comparisons could be made to show where improvement was made or things had slipped a bit.
Only about a third of the staff participated in the assessments. Understanding the value of the assessments, this year taking the assessment involved some financial incentives. Currently, most people participating in the health insurance program pay 12.8 percent of the premium cost. Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the employee contribution goes to 17.8 percent of the premium cost. However, if the employee participates in the health risk assessment, the contribution rate remains at 12.8 percent. If there is family coverage, the employee and spouse need to participate in the health risk assessment in order to qualify for the lower rate.
Participation is still voluntary, but the phone has been ringing off the hook as appointments are being scheduled as part of the opening in-service week at the end of August. It’s hard to gauge the impact of the expanded health risk assessment effort. However, based on reports of previous participants, at least one previously unknown serious health condition was discovered in one of the earlier rounds of voluntary health risk assessments.
Learning about ourselves can sometimes be even more important than what we learn in the classroom. Perhaps we will get to the point that a back-to-school health check can be as common as those back-to-school sale fliers.
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