First grader Orlando Arviso has a uses his nebulizer in the school’s conference roon during recess.
Photos by Randy Allen

MODESTO – Like many children, the students filing into the Bret Harte Elementary School every morning barely notice the flags fluttering by the school’s main entrance. There is the American flag, the California state flag and the color-coded “asthma flag” — green when the air is clear, red when the air is a respiratory nightmare, as it so often is here. “Asthma pretty much rules our medicine cabinet,” said Diana Connacher, the school nurse, revealing a stockpile of inhalers belonging to the school’s youngest students , at least one or two per classroom. “We have a lot of ‘frequent flyers’ around here.’”