Foley High School teaches students hands-on experience with sports medicine

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 9/23/19

FOLEY - Over the years, Foley High School has adopted a number of new career tech programs to give students hands-on experience in a number of different fields, from robotics, agriculture, and the …

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Foley High School teaches students hands-on experience with sports medicine

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FOLEY - Over the years, Foley High School has adopted a number of new career tech programs to give students hands-on experience in a number of different fields, from robotics, agriculture, and the two classes involved in Health Sciences. One side of Health Sciences focuses on sports medicine, taught by Sean Ahonen. The class also includes an extra-curricular portion that allows a handful of students the opportunity to assist during athletic events at the school, while another opportunity gives students the chance to job shadow with Encore Physical Therapy.

Ahonen has been at FHS since 2006, and never imagined he would one day be teaching a Sports Medicine class quite like this one, giving students the chance to work with high-tech rehab equipment to learn how to repair knees, shoulders, wrists, and more. He teaches approximately 45 students in the Sports Medicine side of his work, and around 95 students in his basic Health Science class.

“We break down the anatomy portion usually in the classroom, going over common injuries, what all surgeries are entailed, and watching videos on the subject,” Ahonen said. “Then we bring them into the training room and we learn about things we can do to keep athletes on the field through the season. Secondary to that, we learn what kind of rehab progressions we can do if the athlete has an injury, and some of my advanced students utilize the training room to design a rehab program.”

Ahonen has the students break down a specific injury, such as an acute ankle injury, by designing a program from first stages, including what equipment would be best utilized and how to soothe the injury, working all the way through the progression to get the player back on the field. They then have to teach their findings to the class. This process is repeated through the entire class and includes injury progressions ranging from shoulders, elbows, and hips.

“This gives them an understanding on how you go from an injury that just happened to getting the player healed and back on the field, because it doesn’t always happen immediately,” said Ahonen. “They have to learn everything, from what the appropriate progression is to what is entailed in getting that person healthy again.”

The training facility has everything from numerous wraps and tapes, equipment to check vitals, TENs units to be used in conjunction with ice or heating pads, ultrasound devices to detect injuries, and Game Ready Units that are taken to sports fields during games. The facility is also equipped with cardio equipment to assist with warmups for the athletes.

During the extra-curriculum portion, approximately 12 to 15 students participate on the sidelines at school sports activities. Ahonen says adding too many students to that portion would “water-down” the hands-on experience, so an application process begins in January for any student who wishes to apply. If accepted, the students are able to participate during the spring, summer, and fall.

“There are so many kids that are hands-on nowadays,” Ahonen said. “Some people have to get their hands on something before they can truly understand it, so for these students they’re gaining experience instead of just getting lessons off a whiteboard and talking about them, so they’re able to retain so much more information. Not only do you have to learn something, you’ve got to apply it.”

The program has produced many success stories since its inception from former students who have gone into careers in sports medicine and physical therapy. Some have remained local and others have interned with the Atlanta Falcons, the same team that Foley native Julio Jones went on to play for. Ahonen calls how he ended up teaching at FHS the “Julio Effect” after being offered a position with the school during Jones’ years of attendance, though he claims it was a lot more than just that.

“I didn’t end up here on my own, it was also Principal Russ Moore and his foresight into the class,” Ahonen said. “He’s done so much for this school, being from this community and understanding what this community needs, and putting the right people in place.”

Approximately 120 to 150 students have gone through the program since it began in 2007 as an elective before becoming a career tech class.

“Our Health Science teachers are very, very knowledgeable in what they’re doing and are an excellent resource for those kids,” said Moore. “We want to have things for kids to connect to, and sports and fine arts have always been that, but we wanted to have more career tech options here and give them more opportunities to connect to something.”

To learn more about all the things going on at Foley High School, check out their website at www.bcbe.org/foley.