Diabetes testing program to be expanded at Bonita Springs Elementary

But after an hour of waiting patiently in the school cafeteria, the nearly 200 Bonita Elementary School students who arrived at school after fasting throughout the morning were sent back to class with a free breakfast provided by the Bonita Springs Lions Club -- and without having the diabetes test they came prepared to take.

There were simply too many kids and not enough time.

The pilot program was able to test some kids and the strong turnout means the program will resume sometime after the holidays.

What they didn't get to finish was voluntary diabetes, or blood sugar, testing. The pilot program sponsored by the Bonita Springs Lions Club was held in conjunction with National Diabetes Awareness Month.

The club approached the school to start this program because Type 2 diabetes, the most common type, can often be prevented and more and more children and young adults are being diagnosed each year. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body doesn't produce enough insulin, or the cells ignore the insulin the body produces, leaving the body unable to break down and use sugar.

Sharalyn Vogel, a school nurse for Lee County Public Schools and the nurse at Bonita Elementary, said Type 2 diabetes used to be known as the old, overweight person's disease. Not anymore.

"Obesity is a huge problem in all American people and children are getting more and more obese. They're not going out and playing, they're sitting in front of the TV, where we used to go play stickball and run around," said Vogel. "They are finding more and more people are getting Type 2 younger and younger."

So when the Lions Club approached Vogel about initiating this program at the school, she jumped aboard.

"Nurses are more frightened by diabetes than cancer because diabetes affects every system of the body, cancer affects one part," said Vogel, who has Type 2 Diabetes. "(With) diabetes a person can go blind, it can affect the liver, it's the leading cause of blindness."

On Monday, Vogel spoke to every class in the school explaining the program and sent home permission slips in English and Spanish. She kept her fingers crossed for a large turnout.

So Tuesday morning, Vogel and other school nurses set out to test the kids of Bonita Elementary -- only more showed up than they bargained for.

The Lions Club got enough materials donated from the Walgreens at Wiggins Pass Road in North Naples for 200 kids in hopes of a large turnout, but neither Vogel, nor Bud Mansolilli, the diabetes awareness chair for the Lions, expected everyone who showed up Tuesday.

Teachers came to be tested; so did students' parents and even siblings.

And while the test is a simple one, it does take a minute or two to get through.

First a finger must be pricked, blood must bubble on the tip, be placed on a strip and in the glucose monitor and then the sugar level must be read. A good blood-sugar level is between 80 and 120, Vogel said.

Janea Bennett's sugar level was normal Tuesday morning, just as her mom knew she would be.

But the third-grader was more than a little frightened by the prospect of the test. Once it was over, though, she acknowledged it was more like "a needle poking," she said.

Her mom, Lenore Bennett, head of the Interested Parents Teacher Organization at the school, wanted to come along just to be sure.

"Just to have it checked to see what it was," she said. "It does run in the family and better to be safe than sorry."

Vanessa Arredondo brought her permission slip to school and was ready for the test but was turned away, as the school decided to send all kids without parents back to class and test only those with parents present.

Arredondo, 10, a fifth-grader, will be back, she said.

"I wanted to know how much sugar I have in my blood," said Arredondo, who became interested when Vogel visited her classroom. She also admitted she watches too much TV and while she exercises, maybe it isn't enough. "I want to be healthy."

Kids like Arredondo will get their chance to be tested when the Lions Club returns, this time with more volunteers to make the procedure run a bit faster and get the kids through quicker.

The Lions Club hopes to expand the program to Spring Creek Elementary and Bonita Middle next year.

Principal David Short was astounded by the turnout and the number of kids, and parents, in the cafeteria waiting Tuesday morning. The sheer number of students, parents and siblings who showed up prove the program needs to resume after the holidays, and it will, he said.

"It doesn't mean we aren't going to complete it, it just means we weren't going to complete it today," said Short, who made the decision to abort the program based on the number of kids waiting, the time left in the day and the fact that the cafeteria was needed for another project. "So many times permission slips don't make it home and get signed and for some reason this one did. This is a great thing for the community, the kids and the families."

Contact Features Editor Kristen Smith at 213-6043 or kmsmith@naplesnews.com