THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300530
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 121 lines
JANICE WHITE, Suffolk Public Schools' head nurse, knows from experience that the first day of school will be delayed for scores of sixth-graders in the city.
State law requires that children entering sixth grade have had a second Rubeola (red measles) inoculation. But each year, 100 to 125 students show up and are turned away because they have not had their shots, White said.
In an effort to avoid similar problems and to ease parents' task of readying their children for school, local service agencies, led by the Early Childhood Development Commission, are sponsoring the first Suffolk C.A.R.E. Fair next Saturday.
With the efficiency of one-stop-shopping, the Children's Assistance and Resource Event (C.A.R.E.) Fair will bring together agencies from all over Western Tidewater on one day, at one location (Elephant's Fork Elementary School), to provide families with state required immunizations, school physicals and health and developmental screenings as well as information on family services, recreation and financial assistance.
All services will be free for children up to 12 years old. Parents may also register their children for Suffolk public schools that day in Early Start programs, as well as kindergarten through grade 12.
Gin Staylor, chairman of the Early Childhood Development Commission, explained that the two-year-old commission's mission is to ensure that every child in Suffolk from birth to age 8 has the opportunity to develop to his or her fullest potential socially, physically, emotionally and cognitively. ``We are trying to meet the needs of all children, not just those with limited means,'' Staylor said.
The C.A.R.E. Fair fits well with the commission's goal of providing support to the families while linking community support and service agencies.
More than two dozen agencies, schools, and health care professionals will participate in the C.A.R.E. Fair.
Dr. Peggy Chappell is one of four dentists who will provide dental screenings. She said that many parents delay their children's first dental checkups until their permanent teeth are ready to appear, but Chappell prefers to meet her young patients as early as the age of 2. ``Just to make friends, ease their fears, take a peek in their mouths and do a very basic exam,'' she said.
``The worst time to have a child first come in is when they have fallen off a trike and knocked out a tooth or pushed it up into the gum,'' she added.
At the C.A.R.E. Fair, Chappell and the other dentists will check children's general dental health, assess future needs, and talk about brushing habits.
Speech, vision, hearing, and developmental sceenings will be provided by the Children's Center. The Society for Aid of Sickle Cell Anemia will also offer health screenings.
Parents can pick up school lunch information and register their children for community sports and recreation programs. Child care and Head Start information and applications will be available.
Children can enjoy being fingerprinted by the Police Explorers sponsored by the Suffolk Police Department, but the fingerpringing has a serious purpose also. The prints will be placed in a special informational package given to parents as part of the Ident-a-Kid program.
While parents browse among booths offering nutritional, financial, and educational information, the youngsters can create their own miniature totem poles, courtesy of the Suffolk Museum.
Lisa Mizelle, museum coordinator, explained that the paper and cardboard totem poles, about 12 inches high, can be crafted to reflect each child's family members and their interests. ``We can even put two totems together to make a larger one in the case of a really big family,'' she said.
Clowns, a petting zoo, pony rides, the Wappadoodle Puppet performance of ``Jack Rabbit and the Beanstalk'' (scheduled for 1-2 p.m.), face painting, and storytelling will keep the whole family entertained.
Beverages and snacks will be provided and each child will take home a back-to-school pencil bag filled with school supplies. One lucky family will go home with a $100 back-to-school shopping spree gift certificate.
The concept of a one-day program, held on a weekend, to offer a convenient and affordable way for parents to ready their children for school was developed in Tucson, Ariz., where the first C.A.R.E. Fair was held in 1989. Since then the idea has spread across the country.
Staylor noted that although the Tucson fair targeted limited income families, the Suffolk C.A.R.E. Fair has been expanded to include all interested families in the city. ILLUSTRATION: File photo by MARK MITCHELL
Health workers will be on hand at C.A.R.E. Fair to handle state
required immunizations.
Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Peggy Chappell will be available to ``take a peek in mouths and do a
very basic exam.''
File photo
Children can enjoy being fingerprinted and the prints will be given
to parents as part of the Ident-a-Kid program.
Youngsters can create their own miniature totem poles, courtesy of
the Suffolk Museum.
Graphic
What: C.A.R.E. Fair, a Children's Assistance and Resource Event
Where: Elephant's Fork Elementary School, 2316 William Reed
Drive, Suffolk
When: Saturday, from 10 a.m.to 3 p.m.
Sponsors: Early Childhood Development Commission, in coordination
with Obici Hospital, Suffolk Department of Social Services, Suffolk
Health Department and Suffolk Public Schools
What to bring:
For Suffolk school registration: birth certificates, Social
Security card and immunization record
For state-required immunizations for children ages newborn to 12:
immunization record
For some other services, such as Social Service benefits: a valid
driver's license, utility bill, rent receipt, health insurance
card/information, voter registration card, custody or divorce
papers, proof of home ownership
Transportation: To and from the school, by Suffolk public school
buses, from Holland Athletic Field, Driver Elementary School, John
F. Kennedy Middle School, White Marsh Shopping Center on White Marsh
Road. Pick up times: 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. by CNB