Walt Whitman High School Principal Alan Goodwin has seen too many students miss too many classes this year because they’ve suffered concussions.
“Five years ago, we never heard anything about it,” he said recently. “This year, I have kids missing several days, if not several weeks, of school.”
That may be because more students are suffering concussions—or it may be because concussions are being diagnosed more frequently. Not too long ago, a student athlete might have headed back into a game after suffering a bump on the head. Now Montgomery County Public Schools require that these athletes be evaluated for signs of concussion. If they show signs, they must be sidelined until cleared by a doctor.
Whatever the reason, Goodwin and Whitman parent Michael Singer want to make sure that students, parents and coaches have the information they need about this type of traumatic brain injury. That’s why the school is sponsoring a discussion by a panel of high-powered medical experts from 7:30 to 9 p.m. April 19. The session is open to the Whitman, Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson High School communities.
Singer, who’s the president and CEO of BrainScope Co. in Bethesda, will moderate the discussion.
Other panelists include:
- Dr. Andrew Tucker, head team physician for the Baltimore Ravens
- Dr. Leslie Prichep, director of the Brain Research Laboratories at the New York University’s School of Medicine
- Dr. Dan Hanley, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Dr. David Milzman, a Whitman parent who’s a professor of emergency medicine at Georgetown University and medical director of the Medstar DC Sports Concussion Center
Goodwin is hoping that the audience will walk away with a better understanding of what it means to have a concussion and how the injury can affect a student’s ability to function in school —often for weeks or months after a concussion.
“Can the school and teachers make accommodations? Only to a certain degree,” Goodwin said. “I just really feel for these kids.”
