The smell hits Kitty Hernlen the second she walks into the classroom at Bayvale Elementary School.

“Sniff,” she said to Scottie Paschal.

“Yeah, smell that,” he said.

“It’s in here somewhere,” Hernlen said.

They quickly track down the source of the floral smell, an air freshener in a cabinet, and confiscate it as a potential trigger to an asthma attack.

Hernlen, an assistant professor of respiratory therapy at Georgia Health Sciences University, is using a $30,000 grant from the W.G. Raoul Foundation in Atlanta to help Bayvale and schools in Warren and Emanuel counties in east central Georgia improve their indoor air quality and potentially help control student asthma.

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In this file photo from October 2024, Atlanta Braves outfielder Jorge Soler and teammates react after losing to the San Diego Padres 5-4 in San Diego. The Braves and Soler, who now plays for the Los Angeles Angels, face a lawsuit by a fan injured at a 2021 World Series game at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com