No one can doubt the value of having a good nurse around when she (or he) is needed. Modern schools now have a nurse on hand during the school day for a variety of reasons.

Samantha Howell is the school nurse at Brewton Elementary School, and her days are full.

“I am in charge of seeing that students who need it, get the medication they are supposed to take,” Howell said. “And children will be children. They are going to get scrapes and bruises in some of their activities. That is just the way it is with children. They can’t bring medicine to school and keep it themselves. That leaves room for too many accidents.”

Howell said that some times during the school year are worse than others. As everyone knows, children in school have more contacts for colds and viruses during the year.

“It stays pretty busy in the nurses’ office, but some days are even more so,” she said. “When the weather gets colder, germs are shared and passed along to kids and their classmates. That is when I am the busiest. I see everything from a skinned knee to viruses making the rounds in the school. Every day is different.”

Howell was born and raised in the Brewton area. She attended Pollard-McCall and W.S. Neal High School. She dropped out of school before her senior year, but, she took night classes at Jay, Fla. to earn her diploma. She also attended Jefferson Davis Community College and graduated from Reid State Technical School in Evergreen in 1997 as a licensed practical nurse (LPN).

She worked at the Atmore Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic for the next two years. She also worked with the Mobile Infirmary and Baptist Health Care.

“I worked longer with Dr. Jon Yoder in Atmore, than any where else,” she said.

During this time she was also raising her family. While she was going to night school she met Paul Howell at church and they were married in 1986. He works at Georgia Pacific and they have a son, Ethan. who just recently moved to Tuscaloosa to be married.

In 2005 she came to Brewton Elementary School to work with the multi-handicapped and kindergarten students. After her son graduated from school, in 2010, she went back into clinical nursing.

“This position here at Brewton Elementary School came open this year and I came back,” she said. “Now I am taking care of all the students. I love working with children. It’s different and you have to learn to deal with different situations. Nothing is ever the same. We have a wonderful staff here at BES.

“I am going to miss my son, but I love to be outside gardening, camping, walking and doing anything outside,” she said. “We have a camper and I am sure we will be taking some trips to Tuscaloosa.”