After dedicating nearly half a century to the health and well-being of Anthony ISD students, District Nurse Marlene White has announced that she will retire at the end of December.
White has a remarkable 52-year career in the field of healthcare with 48 of those years working at AISD.
Her tireless work has been nothing short of heroic since the beginning of her trajectory in the district.
White says she first learned about the immediate AISD job opening in 1975 through a nurse in Canutillo. She was told by the Canutillo nurse that AISD urgently required a full-time nurse to update student immunizations. The urgency, according to White, was due to the district being at risk of closure after a state audit revealed non-compliance with student shot records. White was instantly hired and started working a few days later.
“Since I had previously worked for the El Paso County Health Department, I knew the immunization schedule,” White said.
“I started looking through vaccination cards and took the students on the bus – there were that many -- to the clinic in Canutillo to get their shots. We did that until everyone was caught up,” White said.
Currently, White says 100 percent of the student population has its required immunizations, a testament to how far the community’s health and immunization awareness has come.
Her natural leadership skills that prevented the district from having to shut down formed the start of a profound impact that White would have on AISD.
First responder during emergencies
In 1993, crime in Anthony cast a dark shadow over the safety and harmony of a school environment but shined a light on the vital role of a school nurse.
White says on School Nurse Day in January of 1993, she received a frantic call about a stabbing that occurred inside what is currently Anthony Middle School. At the time, the building was Anthony High School.
“Never did I dream that it was what I saw when I got there,” White said.
White vividly remembers seeing a student with stab wounds on the floor.
“I just got someone’s hand and said "press as hard as you can" while I evaluated the bleeding and the breathing. He didn’t have a pulse, so I started CPR,” White said.
As the life-or-death seconds passed by, White recalls seeing ambulance sirens glimmer in the distance. She got into the ambulance with the student, but a sad reality dawned on her when she saw the EMT was unable to find suitable veins to begin an IV fluid.
“When we got to the hospital, the doctor said they couldn’t have saved him even if he had been across the street, because he just bled out,” White said.
When asked about the things in her career that impacted her, White thinks about this student’s death along with a second student who she says died later the same year due to leukemia. The student’s symptoms began manifesting at school, and White was the first responder to address the student’s condition.
“My school nurses association asked me to talk to the nurses about the stabbing because it’s something that can happen at any school. We never know what phone call is going to say ‘come’ and you don’t know what you’re going to find, and you have to take care of it right then and there,” White said.
Despite the devastating cases that White encountered as a school nurse that year, she said they showed her how far her strength could go; both situations reaffirmed to her that she was in the right career.
“I just love working with the kids and the families here and being a part of the community,” White said.
In a proactive initiative following the tragedies, White started a Girl Scouts troop in Anthony. The group offered an empowering outlet for students to cultivate healthy and useful habits.
Courage amidst a crisis
In 2020, White played a pivotal role in safeguarding the Anthony ISD community during the COVID-19 pandemic. She spearheaded the opening of a testing site in the school district, offering accessible and reliable COVID-19 testing to the community.
“We did it for the community because there really wasn’t another place close for them to go to. Day after day, we’d test. That was a pretty intense time,” White said.
As the virus ravaged through El Paso County, making it one of the country’s COVID-19 hotspots in 2020, White braved the health risks associated with COVID-19 to ensure anyone who needed a test could receive one promptly. She became one with her personal protective equipment.
“I didn’t get covid through all of that. I was able to escape until September of this year, but I think that was because my immune system was compromised due to my chemo,” White said.
As at-home tests and vaccinations became more popular, the demand for COVID-19 testing in the district dwindled. Testing services in the district eventually stopped when funding was no longer provided. In May of 2023, the federal COVID-19 declaration ended.
Navigating farewells and embracing change
A husband, three kids, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren (with an additional great-grandchild on the way!) eagerly await White’s retirement.
“The way she just cares for the community is something that has rubbed off on us,” said Troy, White’s youngest son.
“Our whole family is pretty willing to help anybody.”
Troy recalled a caring mother whose values of compassion, care, and empathy made a unique impact on generations of families in Anthony.
“When people look back at it, it’s more than just the school, it’s the entire community. In some cases, the only healthcare source possibly is through the school nurse, which I think is pretty remarkable,” Troy said.
Despite White’s last day of work being December 20, she is exploring volunteering opportunities to assist the new district nurse with the transition. She is also looking forward to traveling to visit her family, although she admits the separation will be difficult.
“I’m sad. I’ve been coming here for a long time, and I’m starting to see now that there are things I can do at home. I think about my grandkids and great-grandkids, and I look forward to spending more time with them,” White said.
White has become a symbol of determination and strength at Anthony ISD. May her story of selflessness and dedication remind us of an individual’s power to make a difference in the lives of others.
Written by Adriana Candelaria
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