Milford school nurse selected best in state

From Connpost.comBy Noelle FramptonSTAFF WRITER

MILFORD -- A teenage girl cried hysterically down the hall. Another waited outside the office to talk about something personal, while still another received physical therapy in the next room.A voice came across the walkie-talkie: Two other students were outside, looking quite sick, but without passes."Just send them in," said Kathy Scarinzi, a public health nurse who's worked as school nurse at Foran High School since 1999.Scarinzi, an Orange resident, loves a challenge.

That's why she relishes each hectic day she spends at Foran, helping kids with ailments that range from minor cuts and the stomach flu to serious emotional and psychological issues.And perhaps that's why she's so respected by her peers that she was named Connecticut School Nurse of the Year by the statewide Association of School Nurses."This is like the highest honor you can get as a school nurse," she said, beaming. "I was totally shocked."

Since she came to Foran from Pumpkin Delight School, Scarinzi has made it her mission to foster respect and kindness, as well as physical health.One way she saw to do that was to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in 2002. With a social worker's help, she worked with students as alliance co-founder and is its adviser."I think we've done a good job "¦ because everybody's pretty nice to each other," she said, adding that the alliance has grown. "I just love my job. At the end of the day, you feel rewarded."

Students in the Foran alliance also helped Jonathan Law High School across town to start one, too, she said.With kind blue eyes and a ready smile, Scarinzi is a married mother of three grown children who's been a school nurse in Milford and Orange for roughly two decades. She wears a rainbow pin to signify solidarity with gay students and another that says, "Stop the name-calling."On her wall is a plaque stating, "You have the right to be yourself" and the waiting area and hallway are covered with posters illustrating issues like suicide, rape, drugs and safe sex."There's a lot of complex needs that have to be met," she said. "This [age] is when mental illness starts to rear its ugly head. Everyone is treated equally here. They know that it's a safe place -- you can talk about anything."

Scarinzi has written letters of recommendation for students, mentored younger nurses, taught about self-injurious behavior at Southern Connecticut State University, spoken at a statewide conference and more.President of the Milford school nurses union and recording secretary for the state association, she has testified to lawmakers about school nursing issues, advocating a certification requirement for school nurses."She's the smartest nurse I know," said her mentee, Foran school nurse Lisa Skawinski. "I haven't asked her a question she doesn't know the answer to."

Carla McNamara, the school nurse at Meadowside School, said she nominated Scarinzi for the award after planning to for years."I finally just put my foot down," McNamara said. "She deserves this. She goes above and beyond the call of duty. She just does so much, not only for the students at her school but for us, her colleagues. Any little thing that needs to be addressed, she will address it. Her office is a safe haven in the school for anyone."McNamara said she and others put together a portfolio of glowing letters from former co-workers and supervisors to include with the nomination form.Scarinzi brought a drug-prevention program to Foran in response to concern about drug use at the school, as well as inmates from York Correctional Institute to share their stories with preventative intent, her colleague said.

She will be honored Wednesday at a recognition ceremony in West Hartford.At least one person believes Scarinzi deserves an even higher honor. "You are the best nurse of America, not only of Connecticut," a Foran father from Pakistan told her in a thank-you voice mail.