2019 Board of Directors
Keanna Gross, Chairman
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What school do you attend and what year are you in school?
I am a 3rd year DPT student at the University of Saint Mary. Why did you choose physical therapy? I chose physical therapy as a career because I value improving quality of life through conservative efforts. I thoroughly enjoy the challenges of no two patients presenting the same and having a career that allows me to continually seek new knowledge. Why did you want to be a part of KPTA SSIG? I chose to be a part of KPTA SSIG to create therapeutic alliances among students across the state and build relationships among other future DPT’s, PTA’s, and faculty. The therapy world is a tight knit community, and I recognize that networking and advocating for our community will only benefit our profession in the future. What is a hobby you enjoy outside of school? Outside of school, I enjoy traveling, running, hiking, and most outdoor activities. |
Ashley Schrader, Vice Chairman
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What school do you attend and what year are you in school?
I am a 3rd year DPT student at Wichita State University. Why did you choose physical therapy? I always strive to challenge myself and find ways to be unique and innovative. Upon finding physical therapy, I quickly found that it was the right path to incorporate all my interests and skills and how I'll best serve my community! Why did you want to be a part of KPTA SSIG? Being on the KPTA SSIG board provides an opportunity to be a voice and advocate for PT and PTA students across the state. In my position I hope to encourage future students to discover our growing profession, to excite new students to be involved, and to inform current students about how they can impact the community outside of the classroom. What is a hobby you enjoy outside of school? I enjoy any activity that involves my brain! In my free time I like to improve my skills on the piano and guitar, practice Spanish and ASL, write brush calligraphy and read. |
Mason Stocker, Secretary
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Maddi Hughes-Zahner, Treasurer
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What school do you attend and what year are you in school?
I am a 3rd year student at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Why did you choose physical therapy? Human movement is fascinating to me and physical therapists are movement experts! I love that physical therapists address the source of patients’ problems and have so many tools to give people long term recovery. Why did you want to be a part of KPTA SSIG? Being involved with the KPTA is such an honor. I love helping people get more involved with the profession and find their passion within it. What is a hobby you enjoy outside of school? This is definitely cliché, but I love to exercise! |
Nick Pippert, Director of Membership
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What school do you attend and what year are you?
I am a 2nd Year DPT student at the University of Saint Mary. Why did you choose physical therapy? I chose physical therapy because of a personal experience I had with a physical therapist. I played soccer in high school, and I aspired to take my skills to the collegiate level. Unfortunately, I sustained an ACL injury in the season leading up to my Freshman year of college. At the time I was really upset because the odds were against me to get through therapy and make the cut. Fast forward a year to a successful knee rehabilitation, and I was ecstatic when I was released for full contact. At this point I had come to the realization that college soccer was not for me; however, I had a new dream in sight. I wanted to become a physical therapist and help people break through adversity as my therapist had helped me do. Why did you want to be a part of KPTA SSIG? I wanted to become a part of KPTA SSIG for two reasons. I wanted to give myself an additional opportunity to make connections and gather knowledge. Physical therapy has so many avenues and niches. The more I immerse myself in it with different students and clinicians the more I will learn, and I think these interpersonal skills are paramount in having an impact in a patient’s life. Secondly, I wanted to give student’s a better path to interact with therapists in the field. Both groups will benefit from bridging the gap between the other by transfer of the best evidence-based medicine and clinical and personal skills. What is a hobby you enjoy outside of school? Outside of school I enjoy all things exercise. I love to run, lift, and experiment with new techniques. I also train young athletes from elementary to college age at local gym in Lawrence. I even host a sporadic blog about my exercise and health in general. |
Michaela Stephenson, Director of Public Relations
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What school do you attend and what year are you?
I am a 3rd year DPT student at the University of Saint Mary. Why did you choose physical therapy? I chose physical therapy to help others. As a physical therapist you can teach others how to care for their body and strengthen one small muscle to improve the overall quality of their life. Everyone can achieve whatever they strive for and I want to be there to help them when they get stuck. Why did you want to be a part of KPTA SSIG? KPTA SSIG helps all students learn what it is to be a contributing part of the Physical Therapy community. I wanted to be apart of this to help get the awareness out to others about how easy it is to get involved and to be an advocate for the profession as a whole. I plan on staying in Kansas and I want to be involved throughout my career, so this seemed like the best way to initiate my role as being an active participant with my continuing education. What is a hobby you enjoy outside of school? Outside of school I really enjoy spending time with my family. I have been recently planning my wedding for study breaks and if I somehow have extra time, I like taking pictures of family, friends, animals, and especially nature. |
Mathew Kaiser, PTA Liaison
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What school do you attend and what year are you?
I am a 1st year PTA student at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Why did you choose physical therapy? I was introduced to physical therapy through my own battle with injuries. My passion for the field grew when I saw the transformation that happened for almost 100% of the patients. They all came in pretty down and defeated, and by the end of their time in rehab they almost all had huge smiles on their face. Being able to increase a persons’ quality of life and help them function in their weakest moment is why I love physical therapy. Why did you want to be part of KPTA SSIG? I chose to be a part of the KPTA SSIG because I thought it was a great opportunity to get involved and gain experience serving on a board while still in school. I’m excited to be a voice and advocate for PT and PTA students in Kansas! What hobbies do you enjoy outside of school? I enjoy anything that I can do with friends! This usually means playing sports, attending church, playing Xbox, or just hanging out chatting about life. Relationships are huge to me, so any activity is made better with friends around. |
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