Here is a list of all of the different TR settings that I have worked/volunteered in up to this point. These organizations were either for my Preliminary Field Work hours, class requirements, or for my internship, but all in all, they have helped shape me to be the best recreational therapist that I can be.
At Prince Edward high school, some classmates and myself led a week-long astronomy class for adolescents with disabilities through instruction and demonstration. My group thought we were completely prepared for our class on the first day of facilitations, ultimately, we were wrong. We modified and adapted the lesson everyday until our final product on the second-to-last day, where we were finally happy with the results and the engagement we got from the students.
At Fuqua, my fellow facilitators and I led groups (starting in elementary school, ending in high school) for roughly six weeks. Over the duration of the weeks, my group facilitated different indoor and outdoor games, arts and crafts activities, and instructional skills to all of the students. Each facilitation was different for each grade level and we reflected after each week so that we could increase the quality of our facilitations as well as our facilitation skills. This overall project helped me to increase my facilitation ability through practice, repetition, and redirection from my peers and professors whenever I was stuck with anything.
Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center
Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center is an integrated summer camp based recreational therapy program in Alexandria, Virginia. At Nannie J. Lee, I assisted with the supervision, education, transportation, and support of the clients during outings and at the center. At the recreation center, there was a class room, sensory room, and a gym that the youth participants could use while at the center. The days were always scheduled with planned activities or “groups” so everything ran smoothly. This was my first outside field work experience and it was a great way to get my foot in the door with recreational therapy since it was very similar to the Healthy Innovations Program.
Healthy Innovations Program (Pool and Lab Practicum)
During the Healthy Innovations Program at Longwood, I aided my fellow students, documented the progress of my clients, and supervised clients in the pool and lab settings. I participated in the Healthy Innovations program for roughly 3 years, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. My favorite part was interacting with the participants in the pool since it was therapeutic for the youth and myself.
The Goodwin House is an assisted living facility in Alexandria, Virginia and the primary clientele is older adults. At the Goodwin House, I aided the Recreational Therapists with supervision, transportation, feeding, and activities with the residents at the facility. Volunteering at the Goodwin House was my first interaction with older adults and I am glad that I got an opportunity to volunteer there since it showed me how much I enjoyed working in that specific setting.
Chesterfield Parks and Recreation
At Chesterfield, I volunteered at an all-day adult summer camp where I aided the clients in arts and crafts activities, transportation to outings, supervision, and partnership in physical and mental activities.
Centra PACE is an adult day center in Farmville, Virginia. At PACE, I assisted the staff members with supervision, physical therapy, music therapy, arts and crafts, board games, meals, and memory activities. The average day at PACE started with a morning meeting, followed by morning activities (either group or individual), leading into chair exercise, then lunch, followed up by the afternoon activity, and the departure from the center. Throughout my time at PACE, there were a lot of intake and other assessments which took place, however, I was not allowed to be apart of the process due to the sensitive nature of the information being discussed.
At Hanover, I volunteered at a community picnic for adults with physical and mental disabilities. I assisted with preparing and serving food, supervision, table games, and gross motor games such as big checkers, bowling, frisbee, and hula-hoops.
I completed my junior internship through ServiceSource for my junior internship. ServiceSource is a recreational therapy contracting agency that has an agreement with different organizations in Northern Virginia and contracts recreational therapists out to said organizations. ServiceSource’s clientele is primarily adults over the age of 50 who attend senior centers. ServiceSource currently has affiliations with 14 centers CTRSs are contracted to either individual centers or a few and rotate throughout the work-week. I was interning for a CTRS who worked at Little River Glen Senior Center in Fairfax, Virginia and we were not a rotating staff. At the center, I got to know a plethora of the seniors on a personal level, and some even got me a cake and made me a scrapbook when I left at the end of the summer. My job was primarily to assist with facilitations, facilitate interventions, write progress notes and intake assessments, attend monthly meetings, and assist center staff/participants whenever needed. My favorite part about working with ServiceSource and my CTRS was the daily interactions I was making with everyone at the center; Everyday seemed to fly by because of how exciting it was, however, there was never a dull moment.