Middle school athletic trainer enters 14th year with district

Jeanne Leroy’s workdays as the St. Charles Parish School District’s middle school athletic trainer start around 7:45 a.m. when she arrives at her first school.

The educator and trainer then works with students and athletes at the district’s middle schools – Albert Cammon, Harry Hurt, R.K. Smith and J.B. Martin – daily. After school she heads to whatever athletic functions there are that day and meticulously watches for injuries before she heads home.

“It depends on the season,” she said. “I can get home anywhere from 5 to 10 that night.”

But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I love being the athletic trainer,” she said.

Leroy has been teaching for 33 and a half years, with 14 of those years devoted to SCPPS. She was at Hahnville High School for five years, where she developed the sports medicine program.

As part of her job, Leroy performs physical therapy at school, assists parents by meeting with physical therapists and doctors with them and their child and attends all practices and games. She said her main goals are to prevent athletic injuries and educate her athletes on self-care tips and techniques.

“Injuries are sometimes inevitable,” Leroy said. “When athletic injuries happen, I meticulously treat my athletes and follow up with their parents and sometimes their doctors accordingly. Although my goal is to prevent injuries, it’s also about being with the athlete through the process making sure they are supported during rehabilitation and treatment … knowing there are so many tools in the toolbox to get them where they need to be, safely back on the field or court.”

Leroy said it’s easy to determine what her favorite thing about her job is.

“The kids … the students,” she said. “It’s the joy that I get in helping them and getting them back to play and helping them better themselves. They keep you young. They’re always happy to see you and I like being able to hear their stories and get to know them.”

Leroy said everyone from the superintendent to each school site’s secretaries are a pleasure to work with.

“I hope my athletes remember the time I invested in each of them along with the level of care, compassion and commitment I had for them and what I do,” she said. “I hope they remember that I not only love them but also I love what I do as an athletic trainer.”

 

About Monique Roth 919 Articles
Roth has both her undergraduate and graduate degree in journalism, which she has utilized in the past as an instructor at Southeastern Louisiana University and a reporter at various newspapers and online publications. She grew up in LaPlace, where she currently resides with her husband and three daughters.

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