One of Canyons District’s unsung heroes, Teresa Scheidler-Hildebrand, has received the prestigious Mary Ito Award from the Utah School Nurse Association. Scheidler-Hildebrand, who has been a school nurse for 16 years, received the award for her unique contributions to school nursing and her efforts to carry on the spirit of Ito’s creed to “Live well, laugh often and love much.”

“Teresa is a person who simply makes any environment better,” Brighton High Assistant Principal Larry Odom wrote in Scheidler-Hildebrand’s nominating letter. “She is very knowledgeable and … always willing to mentor the other nurses. She is a great teacher and encourager.”

As a school nurse, Scheidler-Hildebrand works with students and parents to create health plans, trains and works with school employees to deal with minor medical issues, and oversees eyes exams and other health concerns at six different schools. She is a registered nurse, with a Master’s of Science in Nursing, and she was involved in a task force through the Utah Department of Health that helped develop guidelines for vision screening in Utah schools.

Scheidler-Hildebrand says she loves the diversity her job brings and the rewarding feeling she gets when she helps parents find peace of mind with the knowledge that their child’s health needs are being met in a safe environment. Her award is named for Mary Ito, a beloved Utah school nurse who worked for most of her career on an American Indian reservation in Wyoming.  

“I am honored to receive the Mary Ito Award,” Scheidler-Hildebrand says. “There are so few school nurses and many people don’t really know what we do, so we are rarely acknowledged for all of our hard work. I feel very fortunate to work with many wonderful people and to have them value and respect what I do for them is such a great compliment.”

In recognition of the some 73,000 school nurses across the nation, the National Association of School Nurses has designated May 7, 2014, as National School Nurse Day. Canyons echoes the words of the association, in honor of each of our eight school nurses.

In addition to Scheidler-Hildebrand, the CSD school nurses are:

• Martee Hawkins
• Shandie Pulsipher
• Lisa Gee
• Sally Goodger
• DeDee Madsen
• Suzanne Madsen
• Nancy Purcell

“(We) send heartfelt thanks to school nurses and with great pride, applaud the work you do to improve health and learning outcomes for students,” Carolyn Duff, president of the National Association of School Nurses wrote in honor of the day. “Please enjoy the applause and enjoy your special day. You deserve both immensely.”