Protecting a Child at School With Food Allergies

Annacherie Thompson spent Monday morning at with her 6-year-old daughter, Ashley.

She was doing more than making sure her daughter got to the right classroom, or had enough money in her lunch account, like many other parents the first day of school.

Thompson was making sure there was nothing in her daughter’s classroom that could cause her to break out in a rash, vomit or stop breathing.

She already determined that there were two types of soap in the classroom that Ashley can’t use, consisting of milk and honey.

Ashley suffers from severe allergies, and every year Thompson inspects her daughter’s classroom and meets with the teacher and school staff to make them aware of the foods her daughter shouldn't eat or even touch.

She said they’ve been very accommodating since her daughter started Pre-K there.

“They’ve done their homework, and it means a lot,” Thompson said before choking up.

Thompson didn’t plan to stay at school the whole day, like she did when Ashley started Pre-K, but she would return at lunch to make sure the same practices were in place as in past years.

Ashley has a special lunch table, she said, so that she is no where near any of the types of food she’s allergic to – dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts and shell fish.

At first, she sat by herself, but Thompson said Sue Righter, the school nurse and family friend, implemented ways to bring more students to the table.

“My goal for her was to be safe, but to not be isolated,” Righter said.

Students who are eating “safe lunches” that don’t have ingredients to which Ashley’s allergic are permitted to sit with her. Righter also shows the students how to minimize the chance of sloppy eating and implemented a “spill drill.” 

If food is spilled, Ashley is supposed to back away from the table immediately, while all the other students raise their hand to signal that they need help.

“Eventually, it became the cool table to sit at,” Ashley’s mom said. 

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