Midway Instructional Assistant Honored for Fast Response to Choking Student

Park Hill Elementary Instructional Assistant Adrienne Pollak is being honored with the Midway Extra Mile Hero Award for her remarkable attentiveness to notice a first grader struggling to breathe in a lunchroom full of students and quickly respond.

On Wednesday, October 18, Park Hill first grader Gabrielle Ohmstede was eating lunch when she choked on a strawberry and began having trouble breathing.

Thanks to Ms. Pollak’s exceptional alertness and swift action, she immediately noticed Gabrielle’s distress in a room with hundreds of students. Without hesitation, she ran to Gabrielle and did a finger swipe to clear her throat so she could breathe again.

“I am so grateful for her quick action and for her being so aware and in tune to what was going on in the lunchroom,” Gabrielle’s mom Sarah Ohmstede said. “If she had not been, there could have been a much different outcome. She is a hero!”

In recognition of her vigilance, the Midway ISD Board of Trustees presented Ms. Pollak with the Midway Extra Mile Hero Award during the November school board meeting, which is given to individuals who go above and beyond in service to their school community.