ATLANTA – Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria J. Carstarphen, Ed.D. welcomed Atlanta Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay and representatives from Northside Hospital and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation to the opening of the APS Athletic Training Facility housed at Booker T. Washington High School Aug. 25.
Celebrating the opening of the new Washington High School athletic training facility: (L-R) Atlanta Board of Education Member Byron Amos (District 2); Northside Hospital Chief Financial Officer Steve Hudson; Atlanta Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay; Booker T. Washington High School student athletic trainer Kaysha Hughley; Booker T. Washington High School football player Justin Hines; Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Meria J. Carstarphen; Atlanta Board of Education Member Eshé Collins (District 6); Atlanta Public Schools Director of Athletics Jasper Jewell; and Booker T. Washington High School Principal Tasharah Wilson. Photo Credit: Scott Clark King, APS
In December 2014, the Atlanta Falcons and the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation (AFYF) partnered with Northside Hospital to launch the National Football League Foundation Certified Athletic Trainer Grant at Washington High School. The grant provides a full-time certified trainer, upgrades to the existing training room and supplies. APS Director of Athletics Jasper Jewell and Washington High School Athletic Director Rodney Hackney applied for the grant on behalf of the district last fall. The NFL Foundation Certified Athletic Trainer Grant will provide support to Washington High School through 2017.
Booker T. Washington High School’s James Wilson demonstrates the use of a new whirlpool inside the new APS Athletic Training Facility to Principal Tasharah Wilson, Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay, students Justin Hines and Kaysha Hughley, APS Athletic Trainer Yasmeen Randolph and Northside Hospital Chief Financial Officer Steve Hudson. Photo Credit: Scott Clark King,APS
McKay, along with Northside Hospital Chief Financial Officer Steve Hudson and Superintendent Carstarphen, toured the facility filled with new state-of-the-art equipment and supplies which will be available to all student athletes throughout the district.
Booker T. Washington High School student athletic trainer Kaysha Hughley and football player Justin Hines presented McKay with a school team jersey and a football signed by the Washington High Bulldogs football team. Photo Credit: Scott Clark King, APS
The initiative comes from a collaboration between National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the NFL and theProfessional Football Athletic Trainers’ Society (PFATS) that was announced by President Barack Obama in May 2014 during the White House Healthy Kids and Concussion Summit. As a result of the partnership, the NFL Foundation and NFL teams agreed to provide $1 million and NATA agreed to contribute $125,000 to place ATs in underserved high schools in NFL markets.
About Atlanta Public Schools
Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 50,000 students across 98 learning sites. The district is organized into nine K-12 clusters with 87 schools, 17 charter schools and two citywide single-gender academies, where students are offered rigorous instructional programs that foster success in school and life. For more information, visitwww.atlantapublicschools.us.
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