Sammi Carr's The Jaguars’ Spot column for Wed., Apr. 11, 2007

Do bees and don’t bees of ... bees!

But first, this week the VCHS California Scholarship Federation (CSF) is having its big spring community service project. According to club president Torey McMurdo, “We’re actually doing two projects. The first is donating art supplies to at-risk kids, the second is giving children’s books and writing utensils to a school in the Philippines.” Torey also said that even kids who are not in CSF can donate by sending whatever you can afford to the High School office or the classrooms of Craig Adams or Linda Saffiote. If you’re in another service club, Torey says helping with CSF will get you credit toward your club’s community service requirement. “They get one hour for every grocery bag of donated items and plus time for however long it took to buy or collect everything,” she said. Torey also wants everyone to know donated items should be new or gently-used. Try to put it all together by the end of this week, so CSF can send them off as soon as possible.

Here’s Something I Betcha Didn’t Know:

A couple weeks ago VCHS junior and incredible drummer, Steven Foster, came over to my house to lay down some tracks for the Drama Dept.’s upcoming full-length feature film, “Mystery High.” A couple days earlier, Steven had been stung by a bee while he was playing a gig in Santa Barbara with his band, “Over Jericho.”

Unfortunately, Steven couldn’t stop playing to take out the stinger, but when the song was over, he quickly took it out then elevated and iced his foot -- which was the right thing to do -- but ... well, read on.

When Steven got home he took a hot shower which, he told me, had the unwelcome side effect of circulating the venom that still remained in his foot, rapidly turning the foot black and making its skin start to peel off. It was so bad that Steven was unable to go to school for the entire following week; he couldn’t even walk. But his solo in “Mystery High” still rocks!

After hearing Steven’s story I visited our school’s nurses, Alisa Suitor and Socorro Ruiz, to learn the do-bees and don’t-bees of ... bees! They say to never take out the stinger with your fingers because it could snap off under the skin. Use a credit card or, better yet, USE your credit card to BUY some really pointy tweezers! And, remember, don’t wait to take it out because the venom will spread. As soon as the stinger’s out, apply ice. To avoid getting stung in the first place don’t wear flower-scented lotions or perfumes and avoid vibrant colors. If a bee lands on you, remain calm, the last thing you want to do is make a bee angry!

Know something I don’t know? Catch me on campus or send me an e-mail at sammi@carrfamily.com.

See ya. Sam.