School nurses pulled freshman students from their social studies classes this week to screen for potential signs of early onset scoliosis in accordance with a state healthcare requirement. Identifying signs of scoliosis at this time of development in teenagers is crucial in taking steps to counter long term symptoms.

“What we find is that during these years there could be changes due to your growth pattern,” nurse Emily Mikeska said. “And  sometimes we are not always paying attention to our back. A lot of the time, with the bad posturing of slouching and not always standing right, your spine could just accept the natural curve of a hunchback or something like that.”

The screening is done in private subdivisions in room c200 during which screeners will look for physical signs on the body using rulers to touch students’ backs, wastes, and shoulders. Signs of scoliosis include uneven shoulder heights, uneven ribcage placement, asymmetrical hip placement, and skewed body tilt.

“We do this over a period of two days, so that is why we bring in the extra screeners to get everyone screened,”Mikeska said. “They have been trained to look for discrepancies and alterations in a person’s back and they report it to me and it is then my responsibility to record it to their parents to tell them if there is anything that they need to follow.”