2010 SWATA Student Senate!!!!

When I started attending SWATA as a high school student, the Student Association was an absolute beast (and when I say beast, it is in a good way!) Students were everywhere – they were engaged, attending meetings and utilizing that time to learn something new and develop skills that would assist them in their future careers. That impression will always stick with me and will always be a terrific memory when I think about attending the SWATA Annual Meeting. It also created a desire within me to get involved and serve this wonderful Association in any way I could. The recent vision of the Executive Board to return SWATA to that standing with our students has led to, in my opinion, the beginning of a wonderful tradition and component of our organization.

On Wednesday July 21st, from 7:00 – 9:00 pm, the inaugural SWATA Student Senate will call to order their first meeting. The Student Senate was created to involve the students of District 6 in the development, planning and execution of the student programming at SWATA as well as attending to student business throughout the year. Kelley Henderson, the SWATA Student Leadership and Development Chair, was charged with creating this Senate, from the drafting of the by-laws, the application and selection process and the implementation of the program. Along with a task force of college students from all around District 6, Kelley took that vision and made it a reality. The Student Senate will meet at SWATA with their own policies and procedures, by-laws and officers. They will make decisions and plan events that will hopefully allow our athletic training students to creating their memories of SWATA and encourage them to develop an attitude of service within our profession. They have also put together a program for both college and high school students, which looks terrific.

I, along with the rest of the Executive Board, am very proud of all that this group has accomplished. I know that the precedents and traditions that they set in two weeks will be part of this organization for years to come and I cannot wait to see what comes next. Along with Kelley, our Senate is comprised of:

Brad Endres, UT (Chair)
Beth Boyington, UT (Vice Chair)
Aaren Gignac, UTA (Secretary)
Zankhana Patel, ASU (Treasurer)
Kristin Saunders, TCU
Dominic Maneen, UT
Jeanenne Williams, UTA
Cassie Wheeler, OBU (Arkansas Rep)
Louis Duran, TCU (NATSC Rep)

If you see these representatives of the Senate, please take a moment to congratulate them on their selection and thank them for being trailblazers to this wonderful program.

I hope that everyone is having a terrific summer and I look forward to seeing you in Arlington in a few weeks!

DT