High Schools Online: In most schools, sports and other co-curricular activities are the glue that holds students together.
With that in mind, a new World Wide Web site, iHigh.com, will focus on activities to bring high schools and students together nationwide.
The site has joined with the National Association of State High School Associations and 22 state high school associations to provide high schools with their own online community.
Online articles from student correspondents address topics ranging from cheerleading fund-raising to the top-10 hardest things about being a high school senior.
In addition, schools can create and maintain their own sites through iHigh.com.
Rick Ford, the chief executive officer for the site, said that “iHigh.com is providing high school students with a forum for open communication about sports, activities, and just being a high school student.”
Athletic Safety: The National Athletic Trainers’ Association has released guidelines to help colleges determine if the health care they offer to student athletes is enough to meet current needs.
And similar help for high school athletes may not be far behind, according to Ellen Satlof, a spokeswoman for the trainers’ group.
For the past two years, the Dallas-based organization has been working on the guidelines—compiled from research—after studies showed an “explosive growth” in college athletics in terms of both the number of participants and the variety of sports offered.
The suggested strategies will assist colleges in estimating the minimum amount of medical care needed at each institution to keep athletes safe and take into account the number and type of sports offered, as well as risks associated with those sports.
Parallel to the increases in participation has been an increase in the number of athletic-related injuries.
There does not appear to be a proportionate increase in medical care and coverage for student athletes, even though the expansion of activities demands it, according to the guidelines.
“The recommendations are designed to make sure student athletes get appropriate care,” said Denny Miller, the chairman of the guidelines task force and the head athletic trainer at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
The guidelines can be viewed online at http://www.nata.org.
—Adrienne D. Coles acoles@epe.org
