As the school year begins, not only do students fill up the school, but our germs do as well.

With the saying, “bless you” all around, and the constant coughing in the halls, how do students remain cold free in this big cesspool of germs?

Well, the answer is simple: they don’t. We see this every year, students preparing for the new school year and suddenly, boom, they get attacked with a cold.

As soon as students enter those school doors, they are surrounded by germs. But why is it this time of the year that students get hit with a cold?

“Just everybody getting back together,” school nurse Jennifer Geers explained. “It’s the whole dynamic of not being around everybody all summer and then putting everybody back together.”

Due to the fear of getting behind, students often get a cold and still decide to go to school even though they have a fever.

So mix in students who are perfectly healthy with students who have a fever, what do you get? Well, you end up with the whole school filled with sick students and often times there’s no way out of this cycle.

“Everyone at my house was sick, so it was kind of inevitable,” Junior Gabriella Scott said. “like it was going to happen, and so many people at school were sick too, and I thought I had strep at one point because several people here had strep.”

Scott feels like she is always getting sick, but with dual credit classes and athletics, she feels that she has to keep moving. 

To combat illness, Geers especially emphasizes staying home and resting.

“If you’re sick, stay home,” Geers said. “Because a lot of kids, even if they know they have a fever, will still come to school. Stay home!”

Even if a person is not sick, they can take a few simple precautions.

“Washing hands, covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze, not sharing water or food as well,” Geers said.

With the winter season coming, illness is nowhere near leaving, so remember to take precautions and stay home if you’re not feeling the best.