Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/812811
A C C I D E N TA L C O N TA C T can happen. Last summer, not at school, Camille acci- dentally put her elbow on a dot of peanut butter that had fallen out of somebody 's sandwich. She had a severe reaction. Pea- nut dust is also hazardous. Ripping open a bag or cracking open a shell in her vicin- ity could send Camille to the ER. "Her peanut allerg y is in the highest cat egor y of se verity," say s h er moth er, Jessica P yska , who works at the school as a garden coordinator and helps mon- itor Cami l l e's safety. " We're lucky that ever yone here is ver y supportive." Camille's teacher, Judy Heywood, keeps two EpiPens handy in her classroom and has been trained to use them. She informs students and parents that her classroom is a peanut-free zone. "It's sometimes scary," admits the Mid- dletown Teachers Association member. " You have to be ver y, ver y careful . One morning I accidentally took a bite of some- thing with peanuts, and I washed my face and rinsed my mouth out and made sure she wasn't close to me." Heywood reminds students to brush or rinse after eating peanuts and check their clothing for any smears of peanut product, and suggests that just to be on the safe side, they use alternatives such as almond butter or "sun butter" from sunflower seeds. She It's sometimes scary. You have to be very, very careful." — JUDY HE YWOOD, Middletown Teachers Association Camille Pyska, center, at Cobb Elementary School; below, her teacher, Judy Heywood, points to the classroom EpiPen. reminds them food sharing is against the rules for safety reasons. F O O D AL L ER G I E S AR E O N T H E R I S E Camille is among the 8 percent of chil- dren in the U.S. with food allergies. Of these, 40 percent (including Camille) have a severe reaction known as anaphylaxis, where blood pressure drops and airways constrict. Symptoms may include hives, swollen tongue and vomiting. Sometimes families aren't aware their child has a food allergy; about 20 percent of severe allergic reactions at schools happen to children who have never been diagnosed before, according to EdSource. 17 April 2017