On Tuesday March 28, students received a sign up sheet for the spring blood drive sponsored by the student council.

The drive is scheduled to be held on Wednesday April 19. This will be the first blood drive since 2019.

“During COVID, blood drives did not occur. Last October was the first one since [COVID],” school nurse Paula Dibert said. 

The drive will be held in the student commons. Since the last blood drive, the student council and nurses office have ordered privacy screens. 

“All donors must meet the criteria. They have to be 17 or 18 years of age to donate on their own, but 16 year olds can donate with a parent or guardian’s permission. Anyone under 16 years old is not allowed to donate. We also take more donors than needed because not everyone will be able to donate after our screening,” Dibert said. 

All blood drives held at the school are run through the American Red Cross association. 

“To come up with dates, we provide dates that work for the high school, and they provide dates that work for them. They typically view us as a pretty good sight,” Dibert said. 

The student council and nurses are expecting more people to donate blood than last blood drive.

“In the past, we have had good turnouts. Last October, our turn out wasn’t as good as they were in the past, but we are expecting them to be better this time,” Dibert said. 

Sophomore Talen Turiano plans to donate blood through the school. 

“I’m donating blood because they are always in need of blood, and I like to consider myself a healthy individual, so when someone is in need of blood, I’m willing to donate,” Turiano said. 

The blood drive will start at 9 a.m. and the last donor will donate at 1:30 p.m. Each donation typically takes around 15 through 20 minutes. 

“I heard there’s a shortage, and I have a lot to give, I’m not using all of my blood, so if someone else can use it they can have it,” senior Kaylynn Manley said.