A recent addition to the school’s Program of Studies has been made for this 2018-2019 school year.

Physical Therapy is the newest pilot class offered to the school. This course is an add-on to the Health and Medicine category and is co-taught during second block. The two instructors are Head Athletic Trainer Natalie Campbell and Physical Therapist Kendall Blaser from Blaser Physical Therapy in Warrenton.

“There are so many kids here that want to go into the medicine and health field as a career later on in their lives,” Campbell said.

“Coach Campbell approached me with the idea of teaching this Introduction to Physical Therapy I class last winter,” Physical Therapist Kendall Blaser said. “She stated that many of her students that are in her athletic training classes were interested in physical therapy and I agreed with her that adding a Physical Therapy course would be a great addition to the class options for these students.”

“When Sarah [Frye] and I realized that not many medical courses are offered here we wanted to change that,” Campbell said. “We have so many students that really want to go into the medical field but there are not many classes for them to take in high school.”

Sarah Frye is the current CTE Supervisor for Fauquier County Public Schools, and she alongside many other educators have had the idea of adding more medicine and health based courses into the school system’s Program of Studies.

“We have been looking to expand the medicine and health program, all the classes have all had high interest,” Frye said. “This course was really Ms. Campbell’s baby, seeing that she did most of the research for it to become what it is today.”

According to the Virginia Department of Education, all physical therapy classes must have a licensed physical therapist on site.

They either are the sole teacher of the course or the helping assist with another teacher.

“It can’t just be taught by anyone, even though I’m not a certified physical therapist,” Campbell said. “Lots of what Sports Medicine is has to do with physical therapy. So I have that base of certain physical therapy elements, so I know I have a lot to bring to the table.”

The class is currently filled with 19 students and is a single block course, however the ultimate goal is to transform the class into a double-block class. From there, students can travel from all over the county to take part in the course.

The course will is an overview of physical therapy as a profession, which involves elements being a healthcare professional, the basic physical therapy skills, elements of a physical therapy evaluation and daily documentation requirements.

“The students can expect to participate in extensive lab study that will allow them to act as both the physical therapist and the patient.” Blaser said. “This experience will enable
them to gain a strong knowledge of what the world of Physical Therapy is like and what this may feel like.”

“I want the double-block format for this course because we would want to extend it students can cover all materials more in depth.” Frye said.

“This is a pilot class, so the end goal is to be able to have transfer students come in, just like they can go to Fauquier [High School] for their EMT course.” Campbell said.
Campbell hopes to give her kids the best school-led medical class, that she can.

“I want to give my kids something that differentiates them from the rest of the nation’s graduates.” Campbell said. “I want to give them that true hands-on experience.”
For more information contact Coach Campbell or the guidance department.