All athletics and after school activities have been canceled at Eaglecrest High School on Wednesday and school is closed as well as a precautionary measure.
The school communicated to parents and its community in a message Tuesday that the Arapahoe County Public Health Department had informed it that one of the school’s ILC teachers (identified as Maddie Schmidt) had died over the weekend and had symptoms consistent with bacterial meningitis.
Meningitis is a serious and potentially contagious illness — which involves the lining of the brain and spinal cord — that can require hospitalization, but can be treated with antibiotics. It is spread in saliva from person to person contact through sharing food, beverages, eating utensils, or by kissing a message from Arapahoe County Public Health Department stated.
The department and school are contact tracing persons who were in close contact with Schmidt and those people will be offered preventative antibiotics according to the school.
Eaglecrest’s girls soccer game with Cherokee Trail scheduled for Tuesday night was postponed and it had only one varsity contest scheduled for Wednesday as the boys lacrosse team had a game with Pine Creek. Lower level baseball, girls soccer and boys lacrosse games were also canceled or postponed.
— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes