Athletic trainer teaches Health/Driver’s Ed, strives for an enjoyable experience

Current athletic trainer Liz Alves has spent the past seven years tending to athletes’ sprained ankles, swollen legs, concussions and other injuries that occur on our school’s athletic fields, courts and pool.

This year, she will also be teaching Health/Driver’s Ed, along with her job as sports trainer. Alves got her undergrad degree in Sports Science from the University of Pacific and her Masters at San Jose State. She then went on to get her teaching credential from National University. She took online classes while maintaining her job as athletic trainer.

Alves decided to teach the course because she wants to make an impact on freshmen.

“The freshmen are pretty traumatized when they come into high school, so I try to make class relaxing and easy going,” she said. “I want it to be a break from other stressful classes by not giving too much homework.”

As the school’s trainer, Alves has always been interested in helping students make good choices since some choices students make now will affect them later in life.

“I’m a firm believer in giving students information, letting them acquire facts themselves and then [helping] them make their own decisions rather than saying ‘Don’t do that,’” Alves said.

Alves is excited to teach this course since she finds working with the freshmen very entertaining. She hopes students will both enjoy the class and benefit from it.

“I’m hoping [the class] will [teach them] to make good life choices since they will encounter similar situations to the ones we discuss in class through the years,” Alves said.