Roosevelt is one of 11 Seattle Public School high schools that has an on-site Athletic Trainer. The trainers are provided as part of a partnership between the District and Seattle Childrens' Hospital, first started in 2008.  While trainers work out of their office at RHS, they are employees of Seattle Children’s Hospital. 

The partnership pays trainers for 32 hours a week, over a 44-week period. The Roosevelt Athletic Booster Club (RAB) has committed to fund an additional 6 hours per week, bringing the position to full-time. Funding the additional hours is something the RAB budgets for and votes on each year. 

The Trainer helps all WIAA athletes, and attends many events for lots of teams. But the contract requires the Trainer to attend the following: All contact football practices; Varsity football home and away games; JV football home games; and home wrestling and gymnastic meets. 

Meet Our Athletic Trainer, Kristin Mikolajewski

Hi Kristin! How long have you been at RHS?
This is my first year at RHS! Before this, I spent the last several years working at in DI athletics at Seattle University, primarily with baseball!

Can you briefly explain what an Athletic Trainer does?  What does the job involve?
Athletic trainers (AT's) are highly-qualified, multi-skilled health care professionals who render service or treatment, under the direction of or in collaboration with a physician, in accordance with their education, training and the state's statutes, rules and regulations.  As a part of the health care team, services provided by athletic trainers include primary care, injury and illness prevention, wellness promotion and education, emergent care, examination and clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. I provide care at athletic practices and events here at Roosevelt High School (or other athletic venues) on most afternoons and evenings.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a PNW native, born and raised on the Eastside. After graduating from Eastside Catholic, I moved to California to get my Bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly SLO and then got my Master’s degree in Athletic Training from University of Idaho. While in grad school, I moved around to work with many different sports teams ranging from high school football in California to PAC-12 volleyball right here in Seattle! In my free time I love to cook, ski, garden, hang out with my fiancé and our two dogs, spend time on the water, and read.

How do students make an appointment or come see you?
I post my office hours on my door and student-athletes can come see me at any point during those times. I should note that they should not come see me during the school day, they should wait until they get out of class. They can also reach me via email to coordinate a time to see me:  kristin.mikolajewski@seattlechildrens.org

What's the best part of your job?
Getting to see the student-athletes accomplish their goals – both athletically and in life! Being there to cheer kids on through the tough times and see them overcome injuries, hardships, and bad days to achieve what they’ve been working towards never gets old!

What part of your job is the most challenging?
Juggling the schedules of multiple teams and not being able to be there for them all as much as I would like. I try my best to make an appearance at an event for each team as much as I can so the kids and coaches can get to know me and make the athletic training room a less scary place, but unfortunately there is only one of me, so sometimes priorities have to be made.

What sports do you play?
I grew up playing volleyball primarily, but now I am an avid skier, golfer, hiker, and distance runner. Fun fact – last year I ran my first marathon and am currently gearing up to begin training to summit Mt. Rainier this summer!