A partnership with St. Luke's allows students to be treated right away at their school, with minimal disruption to their schedules.

Sniffles, coughs, sore throats, bumps, and scrapes. These common childhood ailments can seem overwhelming when you don’t have easy access to basic medical care.

But thanks to a partnership between St. Luke’s and Nampa School District, students and their siblings can be treated right at their school with minimal disruption to their schedule or a parent’s workday, and without having to worry about transportation. Cost is based on need and ability to pay; visits require parental permission.

Twice a week, the St. Luke’s Children’s Mobile Care clinic is in Nampa, visiting a total of eight elementary, middle, and high schools; students from other schools can also be seen at these sites. In addition to treating minor illnesses and injuries, the program offers wellness exams and sports physicals. Providers also often see kids with undiagnosed mental health or behavioral issues and can refer them to appropriate care. Medical emergencies like severe bleeding, compound fractures and seizures are left to emergency personnel.

The partnership was started in the 2019-2020 school year, pre-COVID, with just a physician and a nurse working out of a school office. Two years later they added the mobile clinic; a second mobile clinic serves Boise School District. Named Bluey and Bandit, the retrofitted RVs also offer care for rural areas.

Dr. Noreen Womack has been with the program from the beginning and sees it as an important way to increase access to care.

“Nampa School District was already in St. Luke’s footprint,” she recalled, referring to the health system’s long history of supporting kids in the community, particularly those from Title 1 schools. “It was important to keep going, even when the schools were closed for the pandemic.”

Dr. Womack stresses that while she does treat patients, she is not a primary care provider. For those who are between primary care providers, she offers referrals. Working alongside Womack are a nurse, Nicole, and a bus driver, Dan.

The partnership has proven to be highly successful and will continue in the coming year, although some locations will adapt to new boundaries.

For at least one young patient, that appears to be a good thing. On his first visit to the mobile clinic, he excitedly proclaimed, “I’ve never been in a doctor truck before!”

Success Stories
The program has treated hundreds of students and made some significant diagnoses, including the following:

• A child from a family that hadn’t gotten care in years was found to have a heart murmur and was referred to a cardiologist before it turned into a problem.
• A young patient with what everyone thought was constipation was diagnosed instead with IBD (irritable bowel disease), which requires the care of a pediatric specialist.
• Kids often come in with undiagnosed ADHD and are looking at suspension related to their behavior. Getting appropriate counseling and treatment has helped turned around their school year.

Learn more about St. Luke’s Children’s Mobile Care at St. Lukes website.

Student safety is a top priority for the district, so partnering with the Nampa Police Department is really a no-brainer. Trained school resource officers (SROs) not only keep kids and facilities physically safe, their presence acts as a deterrent to crime and engenders a sense of security.

In addition, interactions between officers and students act to normalize law enforcement for those who may not have had positive interactions with officers. 

NSD has been partnering with the police department for more than 30 years. Early interactions included involvement in the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program in elementary school, and later in the GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) program. Today, SROs also occasionally step into a classroom to talk about internet safety or their career. And many take time to mentor kids or coach community sports.

“As kids interact with officers, they no longer just see the uniform,” said Carmen Boeger, NPD community engagement coordinator. “Now they see the SRO as a person they can build a trusted, positive relationship with. They can have fun together and the next time they need someone to talk to, they can talk to them.”

“We never really know the impact an SRO might have,” said Deputy Chief Curt Shankel. “It might be the fight that doesn’t happen, the runaway who isn’t or the shooting you don’t have. But over the years we’ve had several major incidents stopped because of a relationship the SRO had with a student who comes and talks to them about what is happening.”

In Their Own Words

I have been an SRO for only a few months, but I have been able to help multiple students and their families. One middle school student who stands out needed guidance because he was dealing with gang ties. I was able to guide him away from this and have been able to see him grow as a leader and role model in school. I spoke the truth to him about gangs and where they lead individuals. I also explained to this young man how he was a true leader by the way he was able to influence other students at his school. We talked about how to use his leadership skills for the betterment of his life and why it is so important to strive to be the best you can be in a world filled with darkness. I have now seen this young man make better choices and have a stronger character. To top it off, he now enjoys seeing me when at first, he would stay far away from me. 

Officer Arther Correa, SRO

I was working an event at the Idaho Center when I had a past Nampa High School graduate come up and give me a hug, telling me if it hadn’t been for me, she would not have graduated. She was a very headstrong young lady who needed some extra attention in order to steer her in the right direction. Sometimes kiddos just need a listening ear and to feel unjudged. I have had the privileged in my career as an SRO to build those relationships. Those kids will often come into my office and just need to unload the weight of the world momentarily. In those times, I will ask if they just need me to listen or if they are seeking advice. When you truly build that relationship with a kid, it’s imperative that you must never betray them. You never know how important your relationship is to them.

Corporal Jared Hoeksema, SRO

Building Connections

Nampa Police officers interact with students in numerous ways, including at Shop with a Cop, Popsicles with Police (a back-to-school social), Chalk the Walk, High Five Fridays, or on field trips.

These connections with students can be life changing. “Police are intimidating, they have to be,” Boeger said. “But kids have a different level of respect for them when they get to be around them regularly.”

This free Department of Defense program serves 10 schools in Nampa, allowing fifth-graders hands-on experience in a range of STEM subjects.
In five-week sessions at the Gowen Field military base, you’ll find young students studying robotics, Newton’s laws of motion, computer-aided design (CAD), types of energy, and the structure of an atom, among other topics. Despite the rigor of the curriculum, these aren’t college or even high school interns. They’re elementary school students participating in the Department of Defense STARBASE Program.

STARBASE Idaho has been partnering with local school districts since 2018, providing innovative programming for low-income fifth graders. The free program serves 10 schools in Nampa, allowing kids hands-on experience in a range of STEM subjects. 

“When kids come on base, it’s a different environment,” said Courtney Taylor, STARBASE Idaho director and a former Nampa School District teacher. “Everything we do is hands on, and we’re constantly busy doing experiments. This can all be either cost or time prohibitive for teachers to do in their own classroom, but through this program kids are able to be engaged in STEM learning all day long.”

The goal of the program is to “foster academic success in STEM, encourage a growth mind-set, increase awareness of STEM career fields, and create opportunities to enhance student capacity in goal setting, teamwork, and perseverance.” All curriculum is standards-based and taught by certified teachers.

Joanna Rodriguez, deputy director and instructor, said the program provides a lot of “Aha” moments, which she finds very satisfying. “Kids may think they are bad at math (or science, or engineering…) but we show them ways they encounter math already in everyday life, and they realize it’s not out of reach for them to be able to do these things,” she said.

Willow Creek teacher Heather Hellwig agrees that STARBASE is a great partnership. “The STARBASE staff do a wonderful job reinforcing and introducing the science standards we are teaching in fun ways. Students get the opportunity to learn with engaging hands-on activities that bring science to life for students and help inspire them to look into STEM careers. We enjoy going because students are engaged and excited about learning.”

The program also provides a careers book for kids to look through that outlines more than 100 careers, including what STEM skills they require and what education they’ll be expected to attain – ranging from a high school degree to a master’s degree or beyond. They also get to visit with Gowen-based personnel such as archaeologists, hazmat professionals, emergency management staff, Black Hawk pilots and more, asking questions, participating in hands-on experiments, and touring facilities.

STARBASE Idaho also partners with the district's migrant summer school program, traveling out to Nampa to provide 25 hours of hands-on learning on-site.

In Other Words

We always do a basic math lesson as a first-day activity where they have to turn a fraction into a decimal and then into a percent. The numbers we use are patterns from fingerprints — how many loops, whorls, and arches. I will have kids in my classroom who groan at the thought of having to do this, because it’s math. But by the end of the lesson, there is always at least one kid saying, “That’s all? It seems harder when I’m in the classroom.” I tell them it’s not harder, they are just working against themselves. They know how to do this. Their eyes pop because they didn’t realize they knew how to do this. We are just reinforcing what their teacher already told them, that what they are learning in the classroom is going to be useful somewhere else.

Watch a video of Willow Creek Elementary students at STARBASE Idaho.

Grocery Outlet opened in Nampa in 2020. From the start, owners Danny and Shari Panasiuk made it clear that they wanted to be part of not only a thriving business but also their newly adopted community.

“We feel it’s important to go out into the community and really support them,” Shari said. “It’s in our budget to give a specific amount and we just absolutely love doing it, especially for the kids. It’s super-important.” 

That giving amounts to donations of pantry staples such as peanut butter, canned goods, and mac and cheese, as well as a variety of fresh foods. Recently, they donated two cases of bananas and mandarin oranges for students taking standardized ACCESS testing at Central Elementary.

In addition, the store participates in a corporate-wide fundraiser called Independence from Hunger, where 100 percent of donations from customers are shared with a community partner. For Grocery Outlet, that partner is the NSD Family and Community Resource Centers. This past year, the program fundraised more than 150 bags of food to distribute as well as a check for $1,000.

The Panasiuks hadn’t heard about FCRCs before arriving in Nampa, but after meeting with coordinators and seeing the need, they were hooked. “We first thought we would donate specifically to Central Elementary’s FCRC, but we learned they share donations and spread them out to take care of the whole community’s need,” Shari said.

In Other Words

Danny and Shari have done so much to support our families,” said FCRC Coordinator Jasmine Flores. “Last school year, I was able to partner with them on creating a program where we receive their imperfect fruits and veggies on a bi-weekly basis. We also created a rotating schedule that allows us to pick up donations on a weekly basis that has expanded into all five of our FCRC sites and goes beyond our typical order of produce. Often, they’ll throw in meat, eggs, cereal, etc.

“Their donation allows the FCRCs to distribute food quickly to our families in need. The sighs of relief when families are able to feed their children a meal other than outside of a can – I have no words. This is why we have named them a Community Champion for the last two years.

“I’ve never met business owners like Shari and Danny. They are truly selfless and want to give back to the community by whatever means possible.”

Why they Give

Both Danny and Shari have gone through hard times themselves, so truly see the importance of helping others through those hard times, particularly children.

“When we started donating it was good, but it got better and better. Our hearts grew and grew until it became a part of us. We really enjoy it. We do.”