By Shira Anderson
Senior Writer

There is only one person at this school that is allowed close contact with all of our hot athletes and their even hotter bodies. That lucky woman is the high school’s new athletic trainer, Jennifer Kessler.
This year marks the first of Kessler’s two-year interning program through San Jose State. She is currently enrolled in the college’s program to receive her Master’s in athletic training. The program combines class, which she takes a few times a week, and hands-on experience at the high school and sometimes even college level.
Kessler, a graduate from Humbolt State with a BA in kinesieology and a focus in athletic training, works closely with many of the athletes on campus. Her job consists of bandaging minor wounds athletes receive during practice or games, taping ankles and other joints, and assigning stretches and rehabilitation techniques to injured athletes.
“I mostly deal with football guys, just because there are so many of them,” Kessler said.
Although this may be the case, all athletes on campus seem to reap the benefits of Kessler’s work.
“I like her a lot. She’s my favorite trainer of all the years. She relates more and is the only trainer who cares about the other sports, not just football,” senior Alicia Incerpi said.
This broad appreciation stems from Kessler’s own interest in sports medicine, which is due to her personal experience in high school. Kessler ran cross-country and track as a freshman, but due to a broken leg and poor rehab , she was unable to continue the sports. She explains it was that obstacle that got her interested in sports medicine in the first place, and it was because of Humbolt’s athletic training program that she decided to go there.
Kessler says she enjoys Los Altos and is looking forward to the next two years.
“Everyone’s been really nice. There haven’t been any problems with the coaches. …The kids have been good. It’s different here than the East Bay [where Kessler went to high school], but everyone’s good. They’re just regular high school kids,” Kessler said.
Judging from Kessler’s reaction to the students and their responses to her, it looks like sports are in for a healthy and fruitful couple of years.