Hawes Asthmatics Get Lessons in Breathing
More than a dozen students from Hawes Elementary School will be the first in the city to graduate from a program that teaches them how to control asthma.
The program, Open Airways for Schools, was launched by Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and the American Lung Assn. to reduce the 10 million school days lost nationwide to asthma each year, officials said.
Since February, Hoag volunteers have taught 40-minute sessions using curriculum derived from an asthma-education program developed at Columbia University.
Nationwide, more than 150,000 students have participated in the program, which was first introduced to Orange County last year in La Habra. Children who complete the program show improved school performance, have fewer symptoms of asthma, and take more steps to manage the disease, officials said.
The program will be extended to four more elementary schools in Huntington Beach, and other nearby schools are on a waiting list.
Information: (714) 835-5864.
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