SPRING MILLS — There is an old saying about keeping safe from many things that goes something like this: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
The Penns Valley Area High School athletic teams have a purveyor of that “ounce of prevention” in the form of Leanne Miyasaki.
Miyasaki is a recent addition to the coaching staff at Penns Valley High School. She has a bachelor’s degree in health sciences with a focus in healthy lifestyles. She brings to the valley and its athletes a world of experience. She formerly was a Department of Defense human performance coach for the Marines and sailors at Camp Pendleton, California. She and her family recently moved to the Penns Valley area and she is now working with the student athletes. She indicated that she has family in Pennsylvania and she had gotten to know the area. When the chance to live here came along, she and her husband took it.
She brings her skills to the students during practices and after school. She is also available for students on an appointment basis. The knowledge she brings includes helping train students how to strengthen their bodies to prevent injury. She also can help provide students with exercises to strengthen the specific muscle groups needed for the sport in which they have chosen to participate. Miyasaki is also providing training that will improve the students’ agility, endurance and stability. Miyasaki told me she is demanding when it comes to putting the students through the workouts. However, after observing her with the PVHS track team it can be said that the students respect and appreciate the information and skills she is imparting to them.
Finally, the coaches and school’s athletic director indicated that they also benefit from her.
Here is the bad news. The Penns Valley Education Foundation — not the taxpayers of Penns Valley — fund Miyasaki’s part-time position. At this time, if we are to give the Penns Valley students access to Miyasaki’s skills, the PVEF must raise the money to pay her.
If you have been following the recent court fight over funding of Pennsylvania schools, you know that the highest court has agreed that school funding is an issue. The court has declared that small rural schools do not have the resources equal to the larger, better-funded schools.
This leads to situations where larger, better-funded schools can hire specialized training staff like Miyasaki but a small school like Penns Valley does not have extra funds for a person with her skills. The board of the Penns Valley Education Foundation made the decision to fund Miyasaki through June of this year.
The foundation hopes to raise enough money in the upcoming Centre Gives fundraiser that kicks off on May 10 and 11 to fund Miyasaki for next year. Donations given to fund this position are tax deductible because the Penns Valley Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations can be sent to PVEF at 4528 Penns Valley Road, Spring Mills, PA 16875 and those to Centre Gives can be made online at centregives.org.
