Blogging is Back!

After a hiatus in third quarter, student blogging for "History and Science of Epidemic Disease" is back. Infectious disease is part of the human experience and nearly every day epidemic disease is in the news.

A quick search of the Boston Globe online turned up a number of recent articles directly related to what we have been studying this year. Here is a very recent one of note:

"Being Perfect Isn't Everything" by Brian MacQuarie, Boston Globe, April 1, 2010.
http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2010/04/01/being_perfect_isnt_everything/

This article focuses on the perfect attendance record of Justin LaBatte, a Senior at Amesbury High School. LaBatte didn't miss a single day in his 13 years of public schooling! Brian and his mom want recognition while school officials are concerned with rewarding such a feat. Administrators simply do not want to encourage students who are sick with the flu or other infectious diseases to come to school.

Are attendance awards a thing of the past? (I actually remember the student who won the perfect attendance award at my high school senior awards assembly! Scholarship money went with the award.) Do schools and parents need to do more to make sure that students and teachers stay home when they are sick (especially during flu season)? How might our school address this especially considering the H1N1 district preparedness plan presented by Superintendent Doherty?