Through a fun and interactive learning environment, Souderton hopes to expand students
future career options by offering sports medicine as a class for the first time, teaching students the basics of the profession.
Prior to this school year, Souderton had not offered sports medicine as a course to its students.
“I talked to Dr. Verano and it’s been in the works for a couple of years,” wellness teacher Karin Clark said. “It kind of just materialized that it was the right place at the right time to be created.”
According to Clark, she took a similar course when in the tenth grade at Upper Dublin High School motivating her to become an athletic trainer herself. “The opportunity that I received in high school to kind of steer me in the direction that I wanted to be professionally, I wanted to give back,” Clark said.
Sports Medicine is now one of the many courses offered by Souderton in hopes to guide students on the right career path. The course’s main goal is to help students decide whether practicing sports medicine is the right fit for them or not.
Some students chose to take the class with an idea of what they possibly want to do in the future and others take it to learn something new.
“I was thinking about being a physical therapist and this [class] gave me more insight into being one,” junior Jason Garbacz said.
According to junior Tommy Fedesco, he has started to consider sports medicine in the future after taking the class. “[Sports medicine] definitely opened my eyes to a whole new realm of careers,” Fedesco said, “or something that I would want to study.”
Athletic trainer Gabrielle Termini said that despite being an athletic trainer today, she did not have access to a sports medicine course in high school. “I wish I would have had that opportunity as a high schooler because then maybe I would have known a little more about what to expect being an athletic trainer,” Termini said.
Compared to other classes, sports medicine is very hands-on and interactive. Students learn the concepts through different activities such as using ace wrap bandages and learning to backboard.
A popular project amongst the students is injury day where the students get to walk around school all day as if they were injured. “I got to wear crutches and a knee brace,” Garbacz said. “That was kind of interesting because you got to see everyone’s reaction.”
According to Clark, she is still finding the right balance between teaching with interactive activities and teaching with the curriculum.
Souderton’s athletic trainers have also contributed their knowledge and experience to help students understand certain activities. “We taught the kids spine boarding and emergency care,” Termini said. “They came down to the training room when we did different forms of ice, heat, and massage [therapy].”
Sports Medicine is open for all tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students and it will count as a half credit course towards wellness.
Fedesco said that students considering the class should “send it” and “just take the class.”
