March 18, 2011
Schools adapt and cope with ’boil water advisory’
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
When the Catholic Schools Office received the first word about a water problem in the Evansville area, it took only minutes for the advisory to be sent to all schools in the affected area.
Flood water from the Ohio River had spilled into a clean water tank on March 14, bringing about immediate sampling and testing of the water supply and a rapid notification of schools, businesses and other entitities.
Word came to the diocesan communications office just be-fore 5 p.m. March 14. A few minutes earlier, a call had also come into the Catholic Schools Office, and Superintendent Dar-yl Hagan said his office had already contacted all of the schools by email.
The water utility serves all of Vanderburgh County and portions of Gibson and Posey counties.
As of March 16, schools were continuing to take steps to avoid the use of water that might have been contaminated.
“Holy Redeemer used their emergency water supply kept in each classroom [Tuesday] and we purchased 12 additional cases of water early,” said Marianne Webster, principal of Holy Redeemer School in Evansville.
Lunch was another problem quickly handled.
“The kitchen switched the lunch [Tuesday] from soup to another lunch and used disposable service ware,” Webster said.
Notification went out from Holy Redeemer to parents and families through a recently adopted notification system.
“School Reach and massive e-mail informed all parents of the advisory from Vanderburgh Health Department and students were asked to bring a water bottle to school,” Webster said. “Holy Redeemer has a contract with Culligan Water to deliver water and cups, and three water stations are set up with five-gallon water jugs and cups.”
Martha Craig, principal at Corpus Christi School in Evansville, also made use of the new technology.
“With School Reach I am able to call parents to remind them to have their students bring in a water bottle,” Craid said. “Of course we are not using ice machines, drinking fountains etc.”
The drinking water problem also allowed a kind of blessing to be given.
“Fortunately, I have some parents that are generous and bring in water for their child’s entire class,” said Craig. “We are truly blest to have some parents that are so kind!”
Cyndi Schneider at Westside Catholic SchooI also used School Reach and had students bring in bottles of water. Some Westside parents also donated bottles of water.
“We are doing great,” Schneider said. “Students actually like having their own water bottle at their desks.”
Preparation for an emergency was an obvious benefit too at Holy Spirit School in Evansville. The Parent Teacher Association at Holy Spirit supplies each classroom with a case of water, so safe drinking water was already on hand when the advisory came out.
Beyond the immediate need to solve a problem, Catholic schools also quickly began to draw life lessons from the situation.
At Holy Redeemer School, “the Mater Dei Ambassadors began our morning prayer with offering up our sacrifices and inconveniences for the suffering in Japan, “the principal said. “We talked of the discipline and order that Japan has shown in patiently waiting for basic human needs.”