eNews Logo Wider

St. Francis High School

10/2/08

SFHS Principal's eNews

There is a lot of excitement in anticipation of this weekend's homecoming events. A special "thank you" to everyone involved with the planning and participation in our Homecoming, 2008 celebration. Whether you are golfing in the Alumni Golf Classic, attending the Football Game at Elmhurst College, stopping by the Homecoming Social at Pal Joey's or preparing your students for the dance . . . the St. Francis Staff wish everyone a fun-filled and safe Homecoming weekend.

GO SPARTANS!

Sincerely,

Raeann Huhn - Principal

Spartan Wear Sale Friday during all lunches!

SPARTAN WEAR will be ON SALE during all Friday lunch periods. Buy it while it's out (It will not be on sale Friday night!) and get Spartan Wear for the Homecoming Game. We will have great new beanie hats ($10). Get ready for the COLD WEATHER-hooded sweatshirts (3 styles ranging from $25-$45), long sleeved tees $20, and pants $25.

Cash, credit cards or checks payable to St. Francis High School will be accepted. Call Karen Wons at 778-6719 or Katie Wood at 848-0375 with any questions.

Homecoming Social

FRIDAY AFTER THE GAME PAL JOEY'S
IS THE PLACE TO BE !!!
Reminder . . . don't forget about this awesome, fun event. Come to support the alumni scholarship fund and our live entertainment, St. Francis Teacher, Tom Malouf. ONLY $25.00 all you can eat and drink -please plan to join us to celebrate our Homecoming Football Victory! Because the game has been moved to Elmhurst, we know that the event will start later, but Pal Joey's has graciously, happily agreed to work with us. Pal Joey's will accommodate us and keep serving until 2 a.m. if the party is still going ! See you at Pal Joey's on Friday Night !!!!

When: Friday, October 3, 2008
AFTER THE HOMECOMING VICTORY!

Time: 9 p.m. - ?

$25.00 at the door

SEE YOU ALL THERE !!!

Help grow the St. Francis Endowment!

When you sign up and designate St.Francis High School, Target donates up to 1% of every purchase you make with your Target REDcard to the school. We received a check for the month of August for $1,410.00. There is no limit to the amount of money the school can accumulate. All proceeds St. Francis receives from programs like this will go directly to our Endowment fund. You can designate St. Francis online at Target.com/tcoe or call 1-800-316-6142.

Notes from the Wellness Center

Infectious Mononucleosis
The Epstein-Barr virus, which causes infectious mononucleosis, is a member of the herpes virus family and one of the most common human viruses. The virus occurs worldwide, and most people become infected with EBV sometime during their lives. In the United States, as many as 95% of adults between 35 and 40 years of age have been infected. Many children become infected with EBV, and these infections usually cause no symptoms or are indistinguishable from the other mild, brief illnesses of childhood. Generally it is believed that 5 out of 6 first grade students have been exposed to the virus. When infection with EBV occurs during adolescence or young adulthood, ages 15-24, it causes infectious mononucleosis about 35% to 50% of the time.
Infectious mononucleosisis characterized by a triad of fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands. Fatigue, headache and loss of appetite may also be present. Sometimes, a swollen spleen or liver involvement may develop. Click here for signs and symptoms Although the symptoms of infectious mononucleosisusually resolve in 1 or 2 months, EBV remains dormant or latent in a few cells in the throat and blood for the rest of the person's life. Periodically, the virus can reactivate and is commonly found in the saliva of infected persons. This reactivation usually occurs without symptoms of illness.

Most individuals exposed to people with infectious mononucleosishave previously been infected with EBV and are not at risk for infectious mononucleosis. In addition, transmission of EBV requires intimate contact with the saliva (found in the mouth) of an infected person. Transmission of this virus through the air or blood does not normally occur. The incubation period, or the time from infection to appearance of symptoms, ranges from 4 to 6 weeks. Persons with infectious mononucleosis may be able to spread the infection to others for a period of weeks and up to 18 months. However, no special precautions or isolation procedures are recommended, since the virus is also found frequently in the saliva of healthy people. In fact, many healthy people can carry and spread the virus intermittently for life. These people are usually the primary reservoir for person-to-person transmission. For this reason, transmission of the virus is almost impossible to prevent.

The clinical diagnosis of infectious mononucleosisis suggested on the basis of the symptoms of fever, sore throat, swollen lymph glands, and the age of the patient. Usually, laboratory tests are needed for confirmation. Serologic results for persons with infectious mononucleosis include an elevated white blood cell count and a positive reaction to a "mono spot" test. This screening test gives results within a day; however it may not detect the virus during the first week of illness.
There is no specific treatment for infectious mononucleosis, other than treating the symptoms, and getting plenty of rest and fluids. No antiviral drugs or vaccines are available. Some physicians have prescribed a 5-day course of steroids to control the swelling of the throat and tonsils. The use of steroids has also been reported to decrease the overall length and severity of illness, but these reports have not been published.
Source: CDC, Mayoclinic.com, Uptodate.com

SFHS Automated Calling System

This past Tuesday evening, September 30th, you should have received an automated phone call from Athletic Director Paul Linden regarding the changes in homecoming scheduling via our new automated calling system. While we have had this technology in place for over two years, we have switched vendors. The new messaging service is called Connect-ED® and will enable us to personally communicate with parents about emergency situations, school events and important issues impacting your child. It will allow us to send personalized voice messages to your family's home phone within minutes.
Please note these important call delivery notes:

When a call comes from the school, your caller ID will display the school phone number.
When listening to a message, please be aware that background noise will cause the system to stop and start. It is carefully calibrated to determine whether a person or an answering machine/voicemail has been reached, and background noise may affect the delivery. If possible, move to a quiet area, or press the "mute" button on your phone.
If you missed any part of a message, please stay on the line and press the "*" (star) key on your phone to hear the entire message again.

It is important that St. Francis has your current home telephone numbers so that you will not miss out on any important communications. Please help us ensure we have your current information - if you did not receive this past Tuesday's message, please e-mail Jeff Gerdeman at jgerdeman@sfhsnet.org, and he will check the log to verify whether or not the system delivered the call and if not, why.