SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Triad High School

Triad High School – Home of the Knights!
By: Jose Mendez and Eldon Reid (MAT Class of 2015)

This semester, we have had the privilege of having Jack Edgar, ATC, as our preceptor at Triad high school in Troy, IL. Ever since we started at Triad, we have been accepted into the family. It has been a privilege where the school community welcomes outsiders so quickly.  Working with Jack has been a blast because the man always brings energy to his work place. He is the first to arrive and the last to leave on a daily basis and his passion for the profession is evident.  His enthusiasm has helped motivate us throughout the semester and challenged us to get better everyday.

Jack Edgar ATC, Eldon Reid and Jose Mendez

Triad high school has offered a wide variety of experience in many different aspects of athletic training.  Their athletic training facility is top notch for a Class 5A football school. They have many modalities that you would find in a NCAA Division 1 athletic training facility,  including an electrical stimulation/ultrasound combo unit and whirlpool for ice baths. Their weight room is extremely nice and has been a great tool to utilize during our athletes’ rehabs. Since working with Jack, we have learned to appreciate the amount of work an athletic trainer can put in this semester. We have done everything from fitting football players with to organizing the athletic training room closet to make things more accessible for us.   Jack’s motto for when the day is done is this: “The day is not done as long as there remains an opportunity to get better”.

During the fall, we covered football, soccer, and cross-country meets. Probably one of the coolest traditions that Jack has is that “Tribute to Troy” is played while preparing for Friday football games.  Hearing that song got us primed and focused for the work we had to do before the game. Jack runs Triad as if it were an elite university rather than a high school of 1200 kids.  Now we are moving on to covering winter sports, which includes wrestling and boys and girls basketball.

This is one of a series of posts by the Saint Louis University Athletic Training students featuring their clinical site and their preceptors. The number, quality and diversity of clinical instruction are major assets for the SLU AT Program.