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ANN BONISLAWSKI: LILBURN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
People who think school nurses deal only with cuts, scrapes and sniffles need to work a day with Ann Bonislawski, RN -- or "Mrs. B," as she's known to her young patients.
There are students with spina bifida who must be catheterized at school and children with diabetes, asthma and other chronic conditions. She once cared for a student with a skull fracture from a playground accident, and recently she recognized that a child thought to have behavioral problems was having seizures.
"It's a lot more than putting on Band-Aids and checking for head lice," said Bonislawski, 59, who has been the school nurse at Lilburn Elementary School for 20 years.
Bonislawski is the only regular health care provider that many of the 1,200 kids from this high-achieving -- yet diverse and largely low-income -- school have ever known, said Gael Goin, a special education teacher at the school.
Along with her medical services, Bonislawski "also dispenses another kind of healing, the kind of healing that comes from the heart and strengthens the soul. To each and every child she comes in contact with, she gives hugs, kindness, love and, above all, hope," Goin said.
"Following in my Aunt Marie's footsteps to become a nurse was the best thing I ever did, and working with children not only keeps you young, it keeps you alive," Bonislawski said.
She finds each child "an angel in his own way," but, collectively, serving the diverse population is a challenge.
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"We're seeing children with more medical problems. They had little health care in their native countries, and parents don't know what's available here," Bonislawski said. "We have resources. We know how to help them, so that's what we need to do."
A staff fund supplies eyeglasses for children. Bonislawski helps families find doctors, drives them to appointments and interprets during visits. A child with a limp caused by scar tissue from an auto accident now wears a brace and can run, thanks to surgery and Bonislawski's intervention.
Knowing that a little girl with diabetes feels "different," Bonislawski will drive her to diabetes camp this summer to meet other children coping with the disease.
"This is a wonderful place to be a nurse because you know you're making a difference in the lives of children," Bonislawski said. "Doing good, having a positive effect on someone's life -- that's why we're here."
-- Laura Raines
Nominated By: Gael Goin
Dear AJC, I am a special education teacher who is fortunate to teach in one of the highest achieving schools in the metro area, which serves one of the most diverse and lowest income populations.
A great majority of our students have no health care provider and the only treatment they receive is the treatment they receive at school. Mrs. B. (Ann Bonislawski) is our school's registered nurse.
She is also the only nurse, doctor, dentist and counselor that many of our students have ever known.
Every day she dispenses medication, compresses, bandaids, ice and ointment to over 1200 students and 200 staff from her tiny clinic at the end of the hallway. But, this angel also dispenses another kind of healing, the kind of healing that comes from the heart and strengthens the soul.
To each and every child she comes in contact with she gives hugs, kindness, love and above all, hope. She counsels, guides, advises parents. She agonizes over a student who is having surgery for seizures.
She visits doctors with parents who can't speak English. With every word, every touch, every fiber of her being, Mrs. B. not only fills a giant chasm caused by poverty and neglect, but she has also shown a light that reaches into the deepest recesses of a young soul.
It says in the Bible that as one does to the least of God's creature she does unto God, Himself. With all she gives to our diverse students and school, Mrs. B. must truly be in God's good favor.
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