What follows are a few of the hundreds of articles I wrote over my years in the newspaper business. They are not the hard news stories that make you cringe. They are not the full-on investigative pieces either. These are articles that give a flavor of a community newspaper interested in providing stories that help residents understand they place they live a little better.

 

Salon offers free haircuts to 'Locks of Love' donors

Originally printed in Grand Prairie Today.

 

      The loss of hair is a paltry price to pay for the often lifesaving benefits of cancer treatment. But for a child, the damage to his or her self esteem can be heavy.

      Reflexiones Beauty Salon in Grand Prairie aims to alleviate some of that suffering by offering free haircuts for anyone donating their hair to Locks of Love, a charity devoted to creating wigs for children with hair loss due to medical reasons. The shop, owned by Eva and Pablo Frias, began taking donations last year and have since collected more than 50 braids for the charity.

      “I know that many people need this, and especially children,” Eva said. “If we can make happy children, it is going to be better for us. We will feel better.”

      Eva said that it struck her last year how much hair was just being thrown away and tried to figure out something to do with it.

      “I see so much hair put in the trash can and I think ‘If we could do something with this hair it would be wonderful,’” she said.

      And although cancer has not affected any children close to her, she said she has seen images of children without hair on television. She learned about Locks of Love after contacting St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital to see if that hospital had a donation program. After that, the idea fell into place for the couple.

      “We want people to know that we can help with the hair and, really, we are happy to do it,” she said. “If people can donate, then we can cut it free.”

      She said she had a young client with hair down to the small of her back who donated recently. Eva said that while the girl’s mother was a little wary, the girl was very happy to help other children.

      “We took a picture for her and she was so happy to give it to Locks of Love,” Eva said.

      Although she realizes that hair can be cut and donated by anyone, Eva said that the salon is glad to style the person’s hair after they donate. She said that is the least the shop could do.

      Her husband Pablo agrees.

      “I can’t do much, but I can do something for the kids,” he said. “I know that a lot of kids lose their hair (during treatment for) cancer. I think the kids feel better.”

      Some restrictions to hair donation do apply. The charity only takes hair that is 10 inches or longer from tip to tip, including curly hair that is stretched straight to reach that length. The hair must be bundled into a ponytail or braid. Hair may be colored or permed, but it cannot be bleached or chemically damaged.

      People interested in donating should call ahead for an appointment. The shop’s telephone number is 972-642-6997. It is located at 550 S. Carrier Parkway, Suite 350.

      Log on to www.locksoflove.org for more information about the charity.

 

 

Chamber program is all about encouragement

Originally printed in Cedar Hill Today.

 

      Ishmael Thorns will have a secret weapon when he takes the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test later this year — someone who really believes in him.

      Thorns and scores of third and fourth grade students just like him are part of a Cedar Hill Chamber of Commerce Mentoring program that connects community volunteers to students about to take the new and more rigorous test. The mentors take time with each student to encourage them to prepare for the test and identify strategies for success.

       “We are just there to be someone besides their teacher to talk to about the test and to try and help them not be as nervous when they go into the exam,” said Karen White, the person heading up the program for the chamber.

      White spent time Jan. 27 going over math, reading and writing benchmarks with students at Waterford Oaks Elementary, telling them how well they have done on past tests and getting them to set goals for the upcoming test.

      That encouragement is important, White said, because even students who do well on their tests do not always think they are smart.

      White related the story of one student who had 95 or more on all of her tests. White told the girl that she was one of the smartest students she had met and the girl seemed very surprised.

      White said “I asked her, ‘Don’t you think you are smart?’ And she said ‘No, not really.’”

      Most mentors spend a few minutes with students, reviewing his or her scores and talking about how they can do better.

      The training to become a mentor is quick and easy according to White, much of it revolving around how a mentor can take a score — no matter what it is — and turn it into a positive.

       “It is really something you pick up really quick and develop your own style with,” White said.

      White said she tries to start off with something positive, like pointing out how well the student did on one section of the test and then look at something that student could do to show some improvement.

      She said mentors try to identify people in their life who can help the children study.

      Chris Butler, who mentored for the first time Jan. 24 was impressed with the program. As a parent with a child who will take the TAKS test next year, Butler said he sees how important it is.

       “I think that if you can go out there and talk to a couple of kids a day and give them some positive motivation to reinforce the good job that they are doing to help them along the way, then I think it is a great thing,” Butler said.

      Butler talked to about 10-12 students for about 5-6 minutes on his first mentor day, but he said he tends to talk a little longer than the usual mentor, who might spend just 2-4 minutes with each student.

       “It was great to see the kids and to see how responsive they were to us being there,” Butler said, adding that it was reaffirming to see children of that age being well-behaved and courteous.

      That is the big benefit for the mentors, according to White. They get a chance to interact with children and see what the future looks like.

       “It’s a lot of fun,” White said. “It is a good opportunity to see what is going on in the schools and see what the kids are feeling. There is a great sense of accomplishment when you leave.”

 

 

Local dentist brings out a few smiles

Originally printed in Grand Prairie Today.

 

      There is an old saying that “Every day you spend without a smile is a lost day.”

      But thanks to a program by Dr. Janelle Bicknell, the Grand Prairie Rotary Club and Grand Prairie School District, the city’s elementary students have healthier mouths and are suffering fewer lost days.

      Now in its sixth year, the Grand Prairie Rotary Dental Sealant Program has delivered more than $711,000 worth of free dental work for uninsured and underprivileged children in the school district, and plans to add about $180,000 more this year. The program was modeled after a similar program in Arlington and mixes dental education with care for children’s molars, the teeth in the back of the mouth used for chewing.

      Molars erupt at age 6 and 12 and are considered permanent teeth. And stopping their decay is one step in creating a healthy set of teeth throughout the mouth. To that end, the program puts sealants on the children’s molars in second and seventh grade, to help get them through what Bicknell calls children’s “cavity-prone” years. And it is starting to show benefits in the children who are coming in for their second round of sealant applications.

      Bicknell said the program started out as an education-only venture. She said she and her staff were giving oral hygiene instruction before the program began and started to see a pattern.

       “We learned real quick which schools needed us in Grand Prairie and which ones didn’t,” she said.

      She said that joining Rotary a few years earlier had focused the idea of doing a community service project and she had volunteered time on the program in Arlington. She thought it could be done in Grand Prairie, but to do it, the program would need a portable dental unit.

      With the help of City Manager Tom Hart, The Friday Rotary Club came up with an idea of a golf tournament to benefit several Rotary projects including the sealant program. The first tournament raised more than $25,000 and allowed them to buy the chair.

      Next, Bicknell said, she got involved with GPISD to make sure they had the OK to get into the schools and look at the children’s teeth. The head school nurse suggested that the program target schools with 60 percent of their populations on free or reduced lunch.

      Following those guidelines allowed the program to get into the schools they had identified earlier as needing the most assistance. Six years in, the program goes to 21 schools and, a couple of years ago, started going to middle schools, including Arnold, Kennedy, Lee and Adams. And each year, the schools involved may change. This year, Barbara Bush qualified for the program, the first time it has done so. The program also works with Immaculate Conception Private School.

      The program is still funded in large part by the golf tournament, held in the city each June honoring distinguished local residents, although it does get some monies from other sources like the Grand Prairie Metro Rotary.

       “It’s a great joint effort on everybody’s part, because obviously without the Rotary we wouldn’t have had the chair or the funding to do it,” Bicknell said.

This year at Arnold Middle School, Bicknell and her dental hygienist, Sandra Williams, saw 269 children and placed 640 sealants on their teeth. With four molars per elementary child and eight per middle school student, the time and costs begin to add up quickly. But the program is invaluable, according to Grand Prairie School District Head Nurse Pamela Miller.

       “A problem we have all over the state of Texas, and everywhere, is dental care for the less fortunate children who have no insurance,” Miller said. “So, even though we need something for acute care, this is something for the long term. I think it is a great program.”

      The program has three steps. Williams, who is paid out of the money raised by the Rotary Club, goes into the school first to educate all the second and seventh-grade students on oral hygiene and get them to relax about the exam before Bicknell comes to the school for the exam. She uses the time to talk to the children about the importance of brushing well, especially at night and sometimes uses puppets to get the point across.

      Bicknell said they also touch on the dental ramifications of their diets and have brought bags of sugar to illustrate the amount in a can of cola.

      On the next trip, Bicknell examines the children’s teeth to make sure they are decay-free and can have the sealant applied. She sends a status report home to the parents. If the child shows evidence of a more serious condition, Bicknell can identify that as well.

       “It’s not just a ‘yes sealants/no sealants’ thing,” she said. “At least it tells them that

something is going on in this kid’s mouth. You need to get help.”

      Williams comes back and puts the sealants on the non-decayed teeth a couple of weeks later. And by that point, she has very few children who are still scared by the process.

       “When I come back to place the sealants they know the four steps I am going to be doing,” she said. “They know that it is sour but it isn’t going to hurt. There’s no pain, it just doesn’t taste very good.”

      It is important to Bicknell and Williams that the children come away with a positive impression, because for many it is their first time in a dentist’s chair.

       “A lot of times this is the first time they have ever seen a dentist,” Williams said. “This is the first time they have ever had a dental hygienist look at them. And this is the first time they have had any work done on their teeth.”

      Williams said that many of them have work that needs to be done, but this is the first time they are hearing that.

       “We see kids with every tooth in their mouth decayed,” Bicknell concurs.

      But Bicknell does not blame the parents, many of whom, she said, do not know good oral hygiene themselves.

       “There are (cases in which) a couple of families are living in a house and they all share one toothbrush and they think that is OK,” she said. “It’s a complete education problem.”

      Bicknell said she has talked to the Grand Prairie Wellness Center about providing oral hygiene classes. It has not come to fruition yet, but she backs the idea.

       “It would be a good thing, because (the parents) want to learn,” she said. “They want to know.”

Bicknell said that the actual sealant application is a preventive program, but the children get more out of it than healthy molars. She said that learning about dental health is a self esteem booster for the children, who also get a free toothbrush out of the visit.

      She said that when she visits the schools the following year and sees children in the halls, they tell her things they remember and that no one uses their toothbrushes. And now, Bicknell and Williams are starting to see children they treated in the second grade.

       “Now, we are starting to see kids in seventh grade that we saw in second grade and it is so neat, because the sealants are still on the first-year molars,” she said. “It’s kind of neat to see that we have prevented decay in those molars.”

      Arnold Middle School nurse Michelle Douthitt said she can see the difference in the children who have already benefited.

       “We are having a lot less severe dental problems in those areas that have been sealed,” she said, adding that she does everything she can to encourage parents to sign their children up.

      And according to Bicknell, the program is getting a boost from families who have already taken advantage of the service.

       “We get a really good response,” she said. “Now that we have been doing it a while, brothers and sisters are coming in.”

      The program will likely hit the $1 million mark of free dental services in 2009 and Bicknell said she has no plans of stopping.

       “I think it is a very good service. I really do,” she said. “As long as I am physically able to do it, I will do it.”

 

 

        Originally printed in The Times of Shreveport.

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