Alayna Treadwell, 6, is learning more than her ABCs at Center Drive School in Orrington, and what she’s learning will help her survive and lead a healthy adult life.

Alayna was 4 years old when she was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, which occurs when the pancreas stops making insulin, needed by the body to get energy from foods.

The disease requires strict monitoring and the injection of insulin to regulate her blood sugars.

Because of Alayna’s age and the fact that she doesn’t quite understand the disease, Center Drive School officials have taken a role in teaching her how to manage her illness.

They teach by example, watching what she eats, her activities and her blood sugars, with the goal that Alayna someday will monitor herself.

“We are so on top of this,” Kate Doughty, an education technician who monitors the little girl, said Thursday after helping Alayna test herself. “We test [her blood sugars] four times a day, and she’s very good at telling us when she feels off.”

The school keeps a daily log of what Alayna and another diabetic child do every school day and are in constant communication with parents.School officials say they are just doing their jobs, but Alayna’s mom, Andrea Treadwell, also a Type I diabetic who remembers what it was like to be young diabetic in school, says her daughter’s school goes above and beyond the call of duty.

“They take better care of her than I do,” she said, “and if there ever is a question, they call me.”

That’s not just her opinion. The school is in fact doing more than legally required under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

In Orrington, everyone in the school, including bus drivers, has been educated about the disease, said John Mugnai, the assistant principal.

“It’s a tremendous effort,” he said. “It’s a collaboration between the family, the school and the diabetic child. We want to be good role models.”

Other schools around the state also are taking active care of children with diabetes, and Orrington’s elementary-middle school is just one of many that help pupils regulate their incurable, but livable, disease.

While the number of Type I diabetics remains steady, the number of adolescents with Type II diabetes is growing, said Jim Leonard, director of Maine’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program.

“That’s an issue,” he said. “That’s really what’s driving the concerns.”

Two types of diabetes

Recent studies indicate that diabetes rates in Maine, for all ages, have doubled in the past decade. Most of that increase can be related directly to inactivity and overeating, which are pushing up the number of Type II diabetics.

Type II diabetics either have an overworked pancreas or the insulin their bodies make is not working correctly. Until recently, it affected only those age 40 and older.

State and federal officials worry that it’s only a matter of time before the number of diabetics in schools increases because of the increases in Type II cases.

“The Type II diabetes in children and adolescents already appears to be a sizable and growing problem,” states the Web site of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State health officials forecast that children born after 2000 will have shorter life spans than their parents and will have a 1-in-3 chance of getting the disease.

Some school systems, such as SAD 22, comprising Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport, already have noticed the upswing. SAD 22 has six diabetic children enrolled this year, and two have Type II.

“Prior to this year, I have never seen a Type II diabetic kid – that’s adult-onset diabetes,” said school nurse Barbara Parent, who has worked at SAD 22 for a decade. “That’s directly related to diet and weight. It’s really scary.”

The state Department of Education also is noticing.

The department’s school health manuals were updated with diabetes information in 1999, and in August 2004, the state’s School Health Advisory Committee completed a guideline for schools, said DeEtte Hall, the department’s health education nurse consultant.

“The guidelines provide forms and information on how to teach staff and students to look for symptoms and help monitor” diabetics, she said.

The state does not require schools in Maine to keep records of the diabetic children they educate, but times are changing.

“We have asked [schools] in the last two or three years for information on chronic diseases, including diabetes,” Hall said, adding that reporting has been sporadic.

Last year, only 20 schools out of nearly 500 issued reports.

The Department of Education is interested in finding out how much time school nurses spend dealing with diabetes, Hall said.

“Some of the school districts have actually hired extra school nurse time for these kids,” she said.

Care at school

While both Type I and Type II are called diabetes, and there are major differences between them, the monitoring and education for children with both types are similar.

Andrea Treadwell remembers having serious reactions when she was in school – three of which sent her to the emergency room.

“I was so concerned about sending Alayna to school,” she said. “I was prepared to do everything. We live, like, five minutes from the school, and I feel it’s my job [to care for her]. At the first meeting [with school officials], I was told it’s completely unnecessary.”

A plan is created for each diabetic child, Mugnai said.

In addition to the daily log and open lines of communication, Wendy McDonald, school lunch director, takes extra time to calculate the carbohydrates for each item on the school lunch menu, which helps parents and school officials calculate the insulin needed.

“This is just my part that I felt I could do to help,” she said.

After doing the carb calculations, McDonald decided to offer pupils more-healthful and reduced-sugar alternatives for some items, such as sugar-free gelatin.

Food is not the only thing that affects blood sugars, Doughty said. A simple cold, stress and moods can affect Alayna’s blood levels, she said.

“Each day can be different,” she said. “Most people believe it’s just a numbers game. There is so much more.”

Alayna’s friends at school don’t treat her any differently from anyone else, but they did wonder when she started kindergarten why their classmate went with Doughty into a restroom before snack time and lunch.

Doughty watches as Alayna tests her blood by pricking her finger and gives her insulin if needed.

To answer their questions, Andrea Treadwell went to the school to read the children a story about a bear with diabetes.

For Alayna, the disease requires nothing more than an extra step “that takes about three minutes” several times a day, her mom said. Alayna has seen her mother administer her own injections, and it’s just a routine procedure for both.

At home on a recent morning, the kindergartner stuck out her tongue as her mom injected her with insulin after breakfast, but the smile never left her face.

“When I was at the grocery store in the spaghetti aisle, I caught diabetes,” she explained.

The girl was at a family camp two years ago and began showing symptoms during a hike. Alayna was thirsty all the time and often needed to urinate, both symptoms of diabetes, her mother said later.

The first day of school for Alayna was scary for her mom, but now she knows her daughter is in good hands and is learning skills at school that she will use for the rest of her life.

“I have no worries while she’s there,” Treadwell said. “I’m impressed with what the school does for my child.”

Local numbers

Schools all over Maine educate students with diabetes, both Type I and Type II. The state Department of Education does not keep figures on diabetic children. Following is a list of Bangor-area school systems that have students monitored by their school systems because of diabetes.

Bangor School Department: 23

Brewer School Department: 3

Hermon School Department: 3

Glenburn School (K-8): 0

SAD 22 (Hampden, Newburgh, Winterport): 6

Old Town School Department: 6

Orono School Department: 2

SAD 63 (Holden, Eddington, Clifton, K-8): 3

Indian Island School (K-8): 0

Veazie Community School (K-8): 0