EPHRATA — On Sept. 9, Ephrata School District announced the hiring of Marissa Cox who will be the district’s first certified athletic trainer and will also teach sports medicine at the high school.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Marissa to our team,” wrote Bryan Johnson, Ephrata High School Athletic Director, in the release. “Pairing her skills as a certified athletic trainer with hands-on learning provides a huge benefit for our students, our student-athletes and our school district.”

The release stated that Cox received her Bachelor of Science in athletic training from Eastern Washington University, where she also minored in coaching. She spent the last three years as an athletic trainer for Samaritan Healthcare and Big Bend Community College.

The addition of a certified athletic trainer to the Ephrata sports program increases safety for student-athletes, the release stated. Cox can provide increased care and rehabilitation, has the ability to clear athletes from concussion protocol and can refer to more specialty care when necessary. Families will no longer need to seek outside medical clearance for most minor injuries.

Cox will teach sports medicine in the new Health Sciences Career Technical Education Program this fall, according to the release. Funding for the new program was made possible through a $200,000 Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Grant: CTE Graduation Pathways. The grant will be used to purchase curriculum, equipment and supplies. The sports medicine course will be part of a sequence of health science courses at Ephrata High School that students can take to fulfill their CTE graduation pathway.