The Sheridan High School hosted an annual blood drive last thursday on Oct. 11 in the small gym. The goal of the school was to reach fifty units of blood, but unfortunately they came up short. The school only collected thirty-seven units and it was mainly due to the fact that a lot of people were sick and did not fill out the parent form completely or correctly.

The parent sheets that are required for a student that is either sixteen or seventeen must be filled out completely in order for blood to be drawn. “A big problem is that a lot of parents forget to put the date on the parent form… and because of it they cannot participate in the blood drive” said school nurse Kathy Barker. Another problem that prevented the school from drawing blood from students is the fact that they are either underweight or sick. Eating healthy and drinking a lot of water is necessary when attempting to draw blood and if a patient is not physically able they cannot participate in the blood drive.

The next upcoming blood drive will be held on January 31st and it is important to participate in it because the school will be competing with Gillette to see who can collect the most blood. It is necessary for everyone who is going to be participating in the next blood drive to eat healthy and drink continuous fluids. If all goes well, the school hopes to participate in a third blood drive near the end of the school year in the spring.