Monessen School District to Participate in Concussion Program

The way coaches and athletic trainers around the country treat student athletes with head injuries is changing, and the Monessen School District wants to be part of it.

At the urging of Rich Yanachik, the district's certified athletic trainer, and John Sacco, the athletic director, the school board registered for ImPACT (Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) â?? a computer-based program to help measure the severity of a concussion.

ImPACT was developed by sports concussion researcher Dr. Mark Lovell, who is now director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

Yanachik said he attended a conference hosted by Lovell about the program.

"In 35 years attending conference and meetings, this is the best seminar I have been to," Yanachik told the board during a Tuesday meeting.

He said the district has had six athletes in the past two years miss games due to concussions. The current policy is to bench an athlete who has suffered a head injury until getting clearance to return from their primary care physician.

With ImPACT, Yanachik said coaches, trainers and medical personnel will be able to better gauge the severity of the student's injury and won't have to rely on answers from an athlete who might play down the effects of an injury to return to the game.

The program tests a person's memory and the results can be compared to a baseline to show whether an athlete is ready to return to competition, or even how much an injured student should try to take on academically.

Even before athletes begin practicing, the ImPACT program starts as athletic trainers and physicians can collect and store pre-season baseline data on the athletes' neurocognitive functional state by having them take a 20-minute computerized test that measures brain processing speed, memory and visual motor skills.

According to UPMC, the baseline session takes place prior to the beginning of the athletic season before any physical contact is sustained.

Then, if an athlete experiences a concussion during the season, he or she is re-tested and the baseline neuropsychological data is compared to post-concussion data to help determine the athlete's post-concussion neurocognitive status and when it is safe for the player to return to active sports, according to UPMC.

Yanachik said the program is used by many colleges and high schools and in multiple pro leagues, including the National Football League.

Sacco said if a student suffers a concussion the ImPACT program will track his or her progress through recovery. He added that statistics show head injuries among athletes are climbing.

"It's very scary," Sacco said.

The board agreed to pay $500 to register for the program. Yanachik said the price varies based on district size.

"If it saves just one child, it will be worth it," said board President Roberta Bergstedt.

In other business, the board unanimously approved releasing Anthony Angotti as a student escort, effective Friday.

Angotti was hired at the start of the school year to escort a male who was involved in a dispute with a girl after their relationship ended. Both students previously had protection-from-abuse orders against each other other. The girl involved has since transferred to another district.

The board also heard from resident Bishop Roderick Wilson, who claimed his second-grade son has been bullied by another student. He said his son was suspended for one day because he hit the child who was bullying him.

Wilson said the child stole his son's lunch money. He claimed school officials did nothing to stop the bullying.

"This child never got reprimanded for stealing money from my son," Wilson said, adding that a school official took the money off of the other child and returned it to his son.

The board was also treated to a pre-performance by middle and high school students participating in the spring musical, "Annie Jr." Musical director Corey Schildkamp said the school musical program is returning and the Group for Performing Arts is being revived.

Several student actors performed two songs from the musical "Annie Jr."

The musical will be presented March 18-20.

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