Q:  A little bit about Doc outside of school…

A: I’m married to my wonderful husband of over 15 years who is also an athletic trainer, so we have our jobs in common.  We have 14 year-old twin boys who are freshmen at Cedar Park HS where my husband works as their athletic trainer.  We also have an 8 year old daughter who is in 3rd grade at River Place Elementary.  We have 2 dogs, 1 cat and 1 turtle at home so our kids and pets keep us all busy at home.  When I do have some free time I enjoy reading.  I also have started running again and try to run about 3 miles a day before coming to work.

Q:  Doc wanted to be an athletic trainer because…

A: I wanted to be a teacher at one point, but also wanted to still be around athletics.  I discovered the athletic training profession my first year in college and realized that this would be a combination of the two.  I could teach kids about athletic training while still being involved with athletics.  It’s great to be able to help an athlete who may have been injured in their rehabilitation so that they may be healthy enough to return to their particular sports, or just to help them in preventing injuries.  Working with high school students can be rewarding, watching kids succeed on and off the field is one of the best experiences when working at a high school.  This is evident in watching kids grow from their freshmen year to watching them graduate high school.

Q: Doc likes being at Vandegrift because…

A: Being around the great staff!  Another favorite part has been working with all the kids in athletics, from the football team making the playoffs to the girls soccer team winning state, this year has been a fun year to be at Vandegrift!

Q: What students can expect from Doc this year…

A: This year was a learning experience for me as this was my first year here at VHS and teaching the sports medicine classes was structured a bit differently that what I taught in previous years.  But we did cover material over various injuries, as well as learned some basic information about athletic training; we will work to learn more next year!  We want to have our kids gain a foundation on injuries that they will encounter while covering sports.  We also plan on teaching our kids CPR and First Aid to get them certified as these will benefit them in being athletic training students.