Students learn to fight the flu
Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 27 2009 04:27 AM
By Hailey Persinger
Killeen Daily HeraldThe 772 students at Harker Heights Elementary School will take home a lesson in combating the flu Thursday.
Harker Heights' Walmart and the Greater Killeen Free Clinic have teamed up to create 800 of what they call "Wally bags."
The zip-close bags are packed with hygiene items that will remind children to wash their hands, brush their teeth and cough and sneeze into tissues to keep the seasonal flu and the H1N1 swine flu virus at bay.
"It's going to be an educational process for them," said Harker Heights Elementary School Principal Carolyn Dugger. "It's going to be a collaboration effort where the children are going to learn about hygiene, which is one wonderful thing to battle seasonal flu."
Representatives from the school, the clinic and Walmart will be on hand to distribute the bags at a 9 a.m. assembly Thursday at the school. The original idea included a distribution period during the school's lunchtime; however, Dugger said an assembly would allow the children to hear about how to use the kits and make distribution a little less hectic.
Once the children have their hands on something just for them, they will be eager to know more and start using the products, said Bobby Martinez with the Harker Heights Walmart.
"It's going to be like Christmas for them when they get this," he said.
Though Saturday's Make a Difference Day has passed, Martinez said he, along with Marlene DiLillo, executive director of the Greater Killeen Free Clinic, will submit the project for the Make a Difference Day awards.
If the project is selected as a winner, the two entities could be awarded more money to carry on the "Wally bags" concept in other schools. About $3,000 went to the creation of the Harker Heights Elementary School "Wally bag" project.
That money will make a long-term difference in the students' everyday lives, DiLillo said.
"Anytime that they can get something given to them just for them, it's very special," she said. "I think it'll provide education at their level for them to better understand the need for good hygiene."
Contact Hailey Persinger at
haileyp@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7568.