OTDA Essentials
June 2014
Volume 8, Issue IV
Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13 / 717-606-1795
OTDA Blog Launched
Fittingly, the Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness project launched a
blog in April, National Donate Life Month. The following initial entry was
made on April 17, 2014:
As the project coordinator for the Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness
Program, I am excited to launch this new blog dedicated to helping students (and
families) make decisions about Organ and Tissue Donation. Being National
Donate Life Month (according to donatelife.net), this is the perfect time to expand
communications with families, teachers, etc
The blog can be accessed at
http://www.iu13.org/StudentsandParents/Pages/OrganandTissueDonationAw
areness.aspx
Visit this page occasionally for updates on OTDA events and other important
OTDA information.
OTDA Blog Launched
OTDA Institute for
Educators Scheduled
for August 7
OTDA Mini Grant Site
Activities Impact
More Than 6,000
Students
OTDA from a Nurse’s
Perspective
Educators’ Resources
OTDA Institute for Educators Scheduled
for August 7
The OTDA Education Program will host a free one-day conference at the
Radisson in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, August 7th, 8am-5pm.
The agenda includes:
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ideas on how to incorporate organ and tissue donation awareness
into existing curriculum;
real-life stories from recipients and donors;
network with colleagues;
interactive video conference with Adventures in Medicine and
Science;
OTDA basics;
and other free educational opportunities the OTDA program has to
offer.
Act 48 and 58 hours are available. We hope you can attend this
informative and innovative conference; please contact Heather Shearer at
717.606.1795, or heather_shearer@iu13.org.
Quote from educator: These seminars are the best I have ever gone to.
Very well organized and so much valuable information that is different from
year to year.
Page 2 of 6
OTDA Mini Grant Site Activities
Impact More Than 6,000 Students
Every year, the OTDA Project offers a mini grant of up to $5,000 to schools, to provide materials
and resources for OTDA implementation into the classroom. Seven schools were awarded amounts
totaling $27,721.75 in SY1314. Following is a brief summary of the many studies and activities
generated by these awards.
Dallas Senior High School, Luzerne County, implemented OTDA into the curriculum of Wellness
I and Wellness IV. Information was delivered through lecture, video, power points, posters and
games. In Wellness IV, the class had to choose one aspect of OTDA and present it for a final grade.
Approximately 300 students were involved with activities creating power points, posters, games and
t-shirts. They handed out materials at two local fairs.
Dallastown Area High School, York County, provided more than 700 students opportunities to
learn about OTDA. The English II classes read The Nicholas Effect. One hundred students traveled
to Philadelphia to the Gift of Life House, the Franklin Institute, and the Mutter Museum. Additionally,
Dwendy Johnson of Gift of Life Donor Program and Missy Sweitzer, donor mother of a Dallastown
alumnus, spoke to more than 400 students. The coordinators also implemented their annual Zac
Sweitzer 10K race.
In Hazleton School District, Luzerne County, students completed a semester project on solving
world health problems which focused on improving the organ and tissue donation and
transplantation process and technology. Students were required to create tri-fold displays of their
research information and handouts that were used for an outreach program which took place during
lunch periods in the cafeteria. Students also presented their respective research findings to their
entire class. Students in the freshmen civics classes conducted research on the impact of
legislation on organ and tissue donation programs on both the national and state levels. Students
used various forms of media to create public service announcements, as well as created various
displays within the school about organ and tissue donation. There were several guest speakers and
a day with Lehigh Valley Health Network, MedEvac Helicopter. Field trips included:
Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank, Jessup; Mutter Museum, Philadelphia; and DaVinci Science Center in
Allentown. In total, more than 1800 students were exposed to OTDA.
Twin Valley HS, Chester County, studied OTDA in Anatomy and Physiology classes. Students
created posters, and held a “Blue and Green” Day, where they made information available to fellow
students via an operation transplant game, and other creative venues.
Culinary arts students made baked goods and delivered them with cards on Valentine’s Day to Gift
of Life Family House. Field trips included MTF in Jessup, GLDP and Mutter Museum in
Cont’d on p.3
Page 3 of 6
Mini Grant Summary
Cont’d from p. 2
Philadelphia. In an education assembly, Gift of Life provided speakers, including young Tony Forte and
family. A local Chick-Fil-A provided an evening where students spread awareness with a Spin-The-Wheel
OTDA Facts game, where prizes were free fries, a free drink, etc. Students spread public awareness by
creating and having aired a TV public service announcement. Students held a paper goods drive for Gift of
Life Family House. There were four blood drives throughout the year. There was also a poster contest. In
total, at least 1900 students plus community members were impacted.
Pine Grove Area School District, Schuylkill County, studied OTDA and did analysis in Probability and
Statistics, in Health Class, and in Anatomy and Physiology. Out-of-classroom activities included creating a
design for OTDA t-shirts, which was a cardinal (PGASD Mascot) busting out of a heart, reading on the back
“How Big Is Your Heart? … www.donatelife.net”. Students from the Health Awareness Club created a
design, which was placed on the rear of a box truck by a decal company. Many residents of the Pine Grove
Area will continue to see the following message:
There was a tour of the Northeast Pennsylvania Lions’ Eye Bank in Bethlehem. Also, Ron Boris, Schuylkill
resident and heart recipient, shared his story with students. OTDA students held a lunchtime awareness
activity for three days in April, providing information, bracelets and game opportunities. There were also
OTDA public service announcements to enhance that week. Finally, 22 students and teachers participated
in the 19th Annual Donor Dash in Philadelphia, then visited the GLDP facility. One of the students won the
5K for his age group in the Dash. The program impacted 582 students directly, plus surrounding
community.
Saint Clair School District, Schuylkill County, serves a much younger set of students. However, in their
third year of having won the OTDA Mini Grant, teachers were able to address students with relevant
information for their age. “Our unit on decision-making talks of making choices based on healthy choices or
using health information to guide your final decision. Following this framework we were able to talk about
the process of organ and tissue donation and what the students can do as living and deceased donors.”
Students from grades 3-8, about 350 total, learned organ and tissue donation through the health curriculum.
These students also participated in the poster design contest. Students in eighth grade dissected sheep
organs during their science labs. Seventh grade students attended the Franklin Institute as a field trip to
learn more about the human body.
Cont’d on p. 4
Page 4 of 6
Mini Grant Summary
Cont’d from p. 3
At Valley View High School, Lackawanna County, OTDA was implemented into the health curriculum.
Sophomore health classes generated power points, games, posters and projects to teach to other students
outside of the health classes during a health fair. These students also attended a presentation by Marcia
Rudat, local OTDA volunteer during the semester. The same sophomore students set up an OTDA table at
the community blood drive in the high school gym. Students in grades 9-12 attended a presentation on
OTDA by Dwendy Johnson and a donor recipient along with his family. A volley ball tournament was
conducted after the presentation. Students paid $1.00 to play and T-shirts were sold. Funds raised were
donated to the Governor Casey OTDA trust fund. Students in grades 9-12 participated in the tournament.
There were 800 students involved in the project included high school grades 9 through 12.
More than 6,000 students, plus community residents, were impacted by the OTDA Mini Grant in
SY1314.
OTDA
From a
Nurse’s
Perspective
---- Alice Ulrich, Certified School Nurse
Twin Valley High School
Organ donation, not something I thought about
when I earned my driver’s license in 1972. No one
talked about it, no one asked at the DMV, there was no
education given in my driver’s education class. I
graduated, attended nursing school and still no
mention of the importance of organ donation.
I took a nursing position in a kidney dialysis unit and witnessed firsthand how
receiving a kidney changed someone’s quality of life. They no longer needed to visit
the unit three times per week and spend five hours having their blood cleansed by an
artificial kidney. We celebrated living donor transplants with “Best Wishes” parties
and visited the few cadaver recipients after their surgery. My decision was made. I
officially became an organ donor. I shared my decision with my family and
fiancée and encouraged them to also become organ donors.
As a high school nurse I decided to apply for the OTDA grant to promote this
important education at our school. My principal was very supportive due to her
family being touched by organ donation when they lost a young family member. I
also wanted to incorporate this education with two of my colleagues because we had
two students who were in need of transplants. Unfortunately one of the students
lost their battle for life this past summer. In their honor we remind everyone how
important it is to be an organ donor.
Cont’d on p. 5
Page 5 of 6
A Nurse’s Perspective
Cont’d from p. 4
Through our grant we have organized a fantastic group of students who are
supporting and spreading organ and tissue donor awareness. We were fortunate to
visit the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF) in Jessup, PA., and the
Philadelphia Gift of Life and Gift of Life Family House this winter. MTF was a
fascinating place to tour. Our students saw how beneficial tissue donation is as
well as how engineering education fits into organ and tissue donation. Gift of Life
welcomed our students and shared valuable information that won’t be forgotten.
While at Gift of Life we visited the Lion’s Eye Bank of Delaware Valley and were
amazed to see a cornea ready to be transplanted. The memory quilts left a mark on
our hearts especially when we realized one of the donors was one of our former
students who passed away in 2009.
As April approaches we are preparing for our big celebration with a Green and
Blue Day. This month, as a “pep-rally” for April we have an assembly coordinated
with Gift of Life and will have a new organ recipient, a young man waiting for a
multiple transplant, and a donor family speak with our student body. We look
forward to the signs of new life with the month of April, blooming trees and flowers,
and the opportunity to spread our education of importance of organ and tissue
donation.
Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted in March but we were unable
to include it until this edition.
Vital Statistics
Waiting List Candidates = 123,107
Transplants January – March 2014 = 6,978
Donors January – March 2014 = 3,411
According to www.unos.org as of 12:02 p.m., 07/02/2014
Page 6 of 6
A Word ofAThanks …
Sincere gratitude to all those who encouraged me with
cards, gifts, flowers, texts, phone calls, and visits during
my recent convalescence from hip fracture in March. You
truly buoyed my spirits, an aid to healing, so that I can
now return to work my little part-time job in Organ and
Tissue Donation Awareness. Thanks so very much!
----- Garet Spiese
EMPOWERING
STUDENTS
TO MAKE
THE DECISION OF
A LIFETIME.
OTDA Program Secretary
Educators’ Resources
Lancaster-Lebanon
Intermediate Unit 13
1020 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster
Pennsylvania 17601
Phone:
717.606.1795
FAX:
717.606.1991
In the wake of debate re: the Donate Life PA Act, a coroner speaks http://www.tribune-democrat.com/columns/x1760086882/Michael-BakerMany-are-waiting-for-Donate-Life-PA-Act
Current stats on kidney donation/transplantation –
http://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/factsheets/Organ-Donationand-Transplantation-Stats.cfm
This issue edited
by:
Garet Spiese
http://www.iu13.org/Students
andParents/Pages/Organand
TissueDonationAwareness
.aspx
Debate on possibilities with Donate Life PA Act, a mother speaks http://fox43.com/2014/05/13/lancaster-county-mother-urgeslawmakers-to-update-organ-donation/#axzz34WshtAUU