For Immediate Release: April 25, 2008

Contact: Jean Campbell (217) 544-6464, ext. 44307

St. John’s Children’s Hospital offers Safe Sitter classes

SPRINGFIELD – St. John’s Children’s Hospital is offering Safe Sitter classes for children ages 11 to 16. Dates for the one-day class are June 11and 23 and July 16, 21, 23, 28 and 30. Classes are held in the Carol Jo Vecchie Women and Children’s Center at St. John’s Hospital from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The free program is funded by Friends of St. John’s Hospital as a community service.

Safe Sitter is a high-quality program that gives adolescents the skills to be safe, nurturing babysitters. The program covers first aid, rescue breathing, child routines, behavior management, babysitting as a business and child growth and development. St. John’s Children’s Hospital ranked in the top 10 nationally for certifying the most babysitters in 2007.

Register for the class online at www.sjchildrens.org. Click on the Safe Sitter news item. For more information, contact JoAnn Lemaster at joann.lemaster@st-johns.org.

St. John's Children’s Hospital combines the faculty resources of SIU School of Medicine with the pediatric facilities and services of St. John’s Hospital. It was recognized for membership in October 2005 by the National Association for Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI). The Children’s Hospital Web site is www.sjchildrens.org