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Paxton native Jennifer Rheeling said when people hear the term “athletic trainer,” they don’t really think of medical care.
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association, however, provides the following: Athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of emergent, acute or chronic injuries and medical conditions.
The American Medical Association, among others, recognizes athletic training “as an allied health care profession.”
As a result, Rheeling was active in advocating for the licensure of District of Columbia athletic trainers to enhance public recognition of protection for their skill set. Athletic trainers are licensed in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
“It’s important to patients that we’re licensed so that everybody knows what an athletic trainer is and what their skill set is — so we’re doing so legally and practicing in their skill set,” Rheeling said.
That can be critical.
She said about 36 percent of public schools have a full-time athletic trainer. Another 35 percent have access to one, perhaps one day a week.
After classes have ended for the day and all medical providers (read: school nurses) have gone home, there likely won’t be someone available to provide emergency medical help in the event of an emergency at the school, whether it’s a practice, game or elsewhere.
“We’re here if an emergency happens,” Rheeling said. “Athletic trainers play a big role toward risk mitigation.
“If a kid’s suicidal in the locker room at 6:15, we’re there to respond to that.
“We do a lot of prevention and preparation such as writing and practicing emergency action plans, ensuring emergency response equipment is readily available and establishing relationship with other health care providers in the community.”
Rheeling said she has had many referrals for mental health cases to identify children at risk and those seeking treatment.
Working in an urban area such as D.C., there have been shootings and neighborhood fights with traumatic injuries. She has had to respond to some of those, including stabbings, gunshot wounds and drug overdoses in the community. None, however, has occurred on her school campus.
“If nobody is there to know how to respond, that’s when kids die.”
She leveraged the DCATA to hire a lobbyist to attain licensure for athletic trainers as healthcare professionals and write the Practice Act language “that allows us to use our skillset.”
The 56-year-old retired after 32 years with the D.C. public school system and now works for the KIPP DC Public Charter School system of about 650 students.
This marks the first time the school system has had a full-time athletic trainer on staff.
“The ability to build this program from the ground up and from a patient-centered way of best practices is something I’m very proud of,” she said.
Rheeling doesn’t answer to coaches or athletic directors.
“We clearly write policy for what’s best for the athlete,” she said. “Our team physician is with Children’s Hospital.”
The children Rheeling serves are largely underprivileged — an eye-opening experience.
After seeing the financial state of some of the children, Rheeling said she would call her parents randomly and thank them for buying her new basketball shoes every year back in her high school-playing days.
“I would have girls playing basketball in Payless $6 shoes,” Rheeling said. “I bought a number of sports bras because they can’t afford good bras that are good for sports.”
Rheeling’s father taught for 35 years at J.W. Eater Junior High in Rantoul. Her mother was a registered nurse at Paxton Community Hospital.
Rheeling has noticed many of the children are quite independent because their parents are so consumed with getting through life that the children have to “do a lot of taking care of themselves.”
The Millikin and Indiana State University graduate has worked her entire career as an athletic trainer at Washington, D.C., schools.
Rheeling has been an active member of the District of Columbia Athletic Trainers Association, and on June 9 received the Presidents Award in a Hall of Fame induction into the organization.
Rheeling has never forgotten her Illinois roots.
She was high school athletic trainer for a trio of D.C.-area football players that Illini fans might have heard of: Tavon Wilson, Eddie McGee and Evan Frierson.
Wilson was a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2012 and also played with the Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts and San Francisco 49ers.
McGee played quarterback and wide receiver for the Illini, while Frierson, a linebacker, played two years at Illinois before transferring to Illinois State.
She also serves as a medical spotter for Big Ten games. While seated in a press box, a spotter will notify sideline officials if a player appears to have experienced a medical incident that the team hasn’t noticed.
At Paxton, the 1986 graduate played basketball and volleyball for the Mustangs. The basketball team finished 19-2 her senior year
She remains close to several of her high school classmates and makes it back to town when she can.
When she’s not working, Rheeling enjoys “being in the sun, being at the ocean.”
“That’s my peaceful place,” she said. “We have a boat.”
She also enjoys spending time with her pets and her three godchildren “and watching them grow up.”
Each of the godchildren is a child of a former student she has served. That shows how attached Rheeling gets with the students she served, and for many the feeling is mutual.
Loss of mother hasn't deterred Rantoul student
Harmony Jones hasn’t allowed the death of her mother to cause her to give up. If anything, it’s strengthened her resolve.
Jones, who was close to her mother, was recently awarded the Rantoul Exchange Club ACE Award for overcoming difficult obstacles to excel.
Following her mother’s death Jan. 13, 2020, Jones, her aunt Tamilka Thompson and little brother went through the court system so Thompson could obtain guardianship.
“For a while, living without my mother was hard because I was closer to my mom than anyone in the world,” Jones said. “She was like my right-hand man.
“If I ever needed anything, she was there, and sometimes I would wonder why something like that would happen to me and what I did wrong to deserve that.”
Jones said as she grew she realized “it was part of life” and her mother had been ill with diabetes.
Jones didn’t allow it to break her “because that’s not what she would have wanted.”
“She would have wanted me to continue to shine and show my bright light to others, which I will continue to do throughout my life.”
Jones has excelled at school and was inducted into National Honor Society at Rantoul Township High School in 2022.
She plans to study criminal justice with a minor in pre-law at Eastern Illinois University. Jones said she also plans to actively participate at EIU by joining the Black Student Union and TRIO.
Jones said she hopes to make her community a better place to live “because society is failing children and there are not many resources to help them.”
Avalos new Chamber of Commerce director in Rantoul
Susan Avalos has been hired as executive director of Rantoul Area Chamber of Commerce.
Avalos formerly worked for the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Milford in Delaware, working with members on a daily basis, planning events and helping to promote local business.
She said she is excited to work with members of the Rantoul chamber and to have an opportunity to get to know the businesses and organizations in the village.
Some of her goals are to find new ways to support the businesses and to find a way to update them on what is going on in the community.
The chamber will host a meet-and-greet time for Avalos sometime later this month.
Pruitt awarded Homegrown Scholarship
Cole Pruitt of Urbana, a student at St. Joseph-Ogden High School, has been awarded a Homegrown Scholarship by Helena Agri-Enterprises.
Pruitt plans to enter Parkland College to study agricultural business with a concentration in precision agriculture.
To earn a scholarship, applicants must complete an essay with a maximum of 300 words about the applicant’s positive impact on the community, another essay of a maximum of 500 words on the applicant’s passion for agriculture and their plan to contribute to the industry.
Lincoln's Challenge graduates 62nd class
Approximately 110 Lincoln’s Challenge Academy cadets from class 62-24 who studied at the Rantoul campus graduated during a commencement ceremony June 8 at Bank of Springfield Center.
The ceremony recognized the cadets’ achievements during the last five months and their primary accomplishments since the start of class in January.
Maj. Gen. Rodney Boyd, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, served as the keynote speaker.
Miles performs anthem at Stanley Cup finals game
What’s next, the World Series?
Paxton native Gina Miles recently sang the national anthem prior to Monday’s Stanley Cup game between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.
The 20-year-old winner of NBC TV’s “The Voice” competition in May 2023 also sang the anthem prior to a San Francisco 49ers game against the visiting Detroit Lions last fall.
After her Stanley Cup performance, Miles quipped on social media, “So much fun. I am a hockey fan now.”
Unity High student winw Illinois State Award
Unity student Olivia Shike won an Illinois Star Award in agriscience. The award was announced Wednesday at the 96th annual Illinois State FFA Convention in Springfield.
A daughter of Daniel and Jennifer Shike, she is a member of the Unity FFA chapter advised by Rich McCabe.
Her supervised agricultural experience consists of three research projects: an animal systems project on the effects of an injectable trace mineral on the conception rates of artificially inseminated females and embryo transfer recipients, a social science study on Generation Z meat preferences through a survey of junior high and high school students, and a social science study on the impact of experiences on leadership capacity through a survey of adults in agricultural careers.
Her research can help producers understand the role and value of trace minerals in beef cow conception, help producers understand how to market meat product that Gen Z wants to buy and help the industry provide opportunities and experiences to prepare the next generation of agricultural leaders.
