Jeff Koehler, superintendent of Johnson Brock Public School, knew that Kimberly Buchmeier was a lung cancer survivor. Both her sons graduated from the high school. This past Spring Koehler came across a grant being offered to school districts by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to test their schools for radon.
Johnson Brock School takes advantage of free radon test
The grant was on a first come first serve basis. Fortunately, for Johnson Brock, Koehler applied quickly and was approved for the grant. According to Koehler, “If it wasn’t for Kimberly sharing her story so publicly and the radon advocacy she does,
I wouldn’t have made this a priority for our school district.”
Only 3 of the classrooms came back with above the EPA standard levels of radon and these classrooms are being monitored and mitigated. “I knew that Nemaha County had high levels of radon all around, and with our building having lower level classrooms it was important to test” said Koehler.
“I was overjoyed when I found out that Mr. Koehler took advantage of this school testing grant. Children and Teachers spend so much time in school buildings and it is so important that schools test for Radon” said Buchmeier.
###
** Pictured: Kimberly Buchmeier (President of CR3) and Jeff Koehler (Johnson Brock Superintendent)
Kimberly Buchmeier
I was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 37 in 2011. Our home tested at 29.9 pCi/L. I joined CR3 in 2016 to help educate and raise radon awareness. I also volunteer with LungForce and Lung Cancer Alliance.
33