School Notebook: LMS Sponsors Blood Drive While Students Learn about Blood

To give back to the community and as a way to teach students about blood and its use in the community, the once again sponsored a in concert with the New York Blood Center.

Organized by Pat Natale, administrative assistant for discipline at the LMS, the drive collected 58 pints of blood – thanks to the generous nature of the Lindy community.

According to Natale, the blood drive represented a way for residents to give back in spite of difficult economic times.

She added, “Our school and community have a reputation of being altruistic and this quality is what helps to make our school such a great place to work and learn….In addition to student success, we also pride ourselves on how the community that we live in assists in many philanthropic ways that includes Toys for Tots [drives] all the way to donating items to veterans.”

The blood drive also provided an opportunity for a lesson for students. To that end a presentation of components of the circulatory system, what kind of illnesses require blood, blood types and career exploration in this field was given to the sixth-grade class, ahead of the blood drive, according to Natale.

Marianne Jahoda, a donor relations associate from Long Island Blood Services, came to the middle school to speak with students about donating blood, and to encourage students to recruit family and friends to give blood, especially in times of crisis.

The lesson began with information about what blood is and its components, and the eight different blood types people have. There was an interactive question-and-answer session about the expiration of blood, the freezing of blood and how many pints of blood a human body has.

In addition, there was also a discussion about the procedure one goes through to give blood. The lesson also encouraged students to enlist people to donate.

Be sure to also take a peek through the at highlights of the LMS charity held in the school’s cafeteria and the companion lesson given to students.

Photos and information submitted by Carol Hauser. Information was also supplied by Pat Natale.