Alyssa James doesn’t worry so much about her asthma anymore.
The 9-year-old Giffen Elementary School student got pretty scared when she had an asthma attack way back when she was 8. But now she knows more, since participating in the Open Airways for Schools program from the American Lung Association, taught by ACPHS students taking classes in public health.
James and 14 other students at the school in Albany’s South End call it “Asthma Club.”
“If I’m having an asthma attack now, I know what it is,” James said. “That’s why Asthma Club can really come in handy.”
ALA sponsors the six-week program with a grant from the state Health Department, said Trevor Summerfield, the association’s director of advocacy in New York. The program started in New York City and has moved to cities upstate, including Albany and Syracuse.
The Capital Region gets generally high marks for air quality. The association’s 2024 State of the Air report, released last week, gives Albany County an “A” grade. But areas for improvement remain, Summerfield said.
The nearly 5,000 children in the Capital Region who suffer with pediatric asthma are more vulnerable to air pollution than others, Summerfield noted. During last year’s wildfire season, their emergency room visits went up 110%.
At Giffen, 18% of about 400 students in the school suffer with asthma, more than the national average, said school nurse Liza Kirchgraber. The school is the site of a study monitoring air quality in the South End, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
ACPHS students participate in Open Airways for Schools through the Collaboratory, the College’s neighborhood public health resource. They deliver the curriculum to students in grades 3-5. ACPHS students participating this inaugural semester are Kelly Sullivan, Dancan Sandy’s Oruko, Najma Richards and Wei-Ting Lin.
Sullivan, a junior who intends to become a physician assistant, signed up for the program to fulfill a service learning requirement in her public health major and found it has enhanced skills she will need as a PA.
“It’s a great skill to have – to be able to be a health educator,” Sullivan said. “I was able to teach them a lot, which means the world.”
Oruko, a sophomore in the biopharmaceutical sciences program, had more personal reasons for participating. He grew up in Kenya with a mother who has asthma. While he does not suffer with the condition himself, he is aware asthma can impede a child’s ability to play and enjoy their early lives.
“I feel like at least I could inform the kids and they can manage their asthma,” Oruko said.
Several Giffen students said the program was indeed teaching them a lot. They like “Asthma Club,” they said, even though it’s held during recess.
“We learn our triggers, and how we can still have fun and stay safe,” said 8-year-old Sophia Diaz, a third grader. She learned, for instance, that allergies can trigger an asthma attack; that was important, she said, because she is allergic to a medicine.
Since participating in Open Airways for Schools, fourth grader Myilana Dickson, 9, thinks of her asthma in terms of traffic lights. When her breathing is on green, she can go. When it’s yellow, she should be careful. And when it’s red, she should see a doctor or nurse.
All the kids said they liked talking to other kids about their asthma. Third graders King Wingfield and Jayquan Chatman added that the “presents” were cool. Chatman showed off some ALA swag, including a clapping hands toy and a water bottle.
At Giffen on April 25, the ALA’s Summerfield could not resist a pun about seeing the children’s eagerness to learn.
“To be in this atmosphere, it’s a nice breath of fresh air,” he said.