The award is proudly received by Culver-Stockton College’s Student Athletic Training Organization (SATO) students in the national competition. The plan was developed through a collaborative design process with students in SATO and media communication students in the Public Relations major. In the development of the campaign, students chose to place an emphasis on identifying and supporting key initiatives of the professional associations and further educating a small rural community about safety, risk management, prevention strategies and the role of an athletic trainer.
The campaign was designed to take advantage of College communications as a primary media outlet. The students chose to utilize webcasted sporting events, visiting the local high school, emails and social media outlets to get their message to their target audiences.
Culver-Stockton finished in the Top 20 nationally. C-SC is one of two schools to place in the PR campaign in their respective district (ND, SD, NE, IA, KS, MO, & OK). Dr. Jay Hoffman expresses his pride in the accomplishments of his students. “The core values of our AT Program are C-ompetence, S-kill, and C-ommitment (CSC). This project gave students the opportunity to learn how to conduct a PR campaign, while learning more and teaching others about the role of an AT and important initiatives like the ATLAS Project, ATyourownrisk.org, and Safe Sport School Award. It also allowed them to give back to the surrounding community through their unique knowledge and skills as AT students. All the while they are also supporting the mission of our program, their Student Athletic Training Organization, and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. I think the most important thing for me as their teacher was to see the students’ growth in their awareness and willingness to be leaders and advocates for important grassroots and national AT initiatives. I feel strongly that the lessons they learned and the professional connections that they made will serve them well in their future careers.”
SATO is a student organization comprised of 11 members, and is committed to the professional development of future athletic trainers. The SATO strives to inform its members about, and advocate for, the initiatives of professional athletic training associations, like the NATA.
For more information, contact Dr. Jay Hoffman, Department Chair of Athletic Training & Health Sciences and Athletic Training Program Director at jhoffman@culver.edu, or 573-288-6534.
Contact the Marketing & Public Relations Office, at pr@culver.edu or 573-288-6000 ext. 6728 for more information.
NOTE: A number that appears immediately after a person’s name (i.e. Jane Doe ’18) is a reference to the year that person earned their bachelor’s degree from Culver-Stockton.