Occupational Therapy
Kid Zone Opens

Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Occupational Therapy, the new Occupational Therapy Kid Zone was dedicated during Homecoming 2008 weekend. The Kid Zone—which is part of the Masters Center for Science, Mathematics and Engineering—provides state-of-the art equipment and specially designed facilities that support students as they develop competence in pediatric occupational therapy settings and enhance the ability of faculty and students to do research. The facility was opened at the start of the fall 2008 semester.

According to Department Chair and Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy Nancy Carlson ’84, the Kids Zone—which features a main clinic teaching room and a smaller student observation studio—is designed to provide innovative learning opportunities for students and comfort for the families who volunteer to support the learning process at the College. “The spaces engage children in childhood occupations, inviting play and school-related tasks,” she says. “In this new facility, families, students and faculty relate, teach and learn.”

Already this new facility is enhancing the Occupational Therapy program, providing a kid-friendly learning environment for a variety of theoretical and practice courses. Additionally, department faculty—several of whom specialize in the occupational nature of children and improvements in occupational performance of youth—are conducting exciting research connected to children, families and childhood occupations. “The Kid Zone is allowing our students to discover the ‘art’ of play as it is expressed in this unique form of intervention and evaluate the evidence of this intervention’s effectiveness,” says Carlson.

The Kids Zone effort was led by the Friends of Occupational Therapy, including Elizabethtown College trustees Doris Gordon H’05 and Patricia Walsh Warehime ’76, Irene Batcho Kershaw’ 75 and Carlson. It was supported by faculty, alumni and friends of the College and local and national businesses.

At the October 2008 dedication, Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy faculty and Kid Zone benefactors celebrated the opening of the new Occupational Therapy Kids Zone. Shown above (l–r) are Debbie Waltermire ’88, lecturer; Angela Salvadia ’78, visiting associate professor; Doris Gordon H’05, trustee and Occupational Therapy Department founder; Christine Achenbach ’86, fieldwork coordinator; Ann Marie Potter, lecturer; Daniel Panchik, assistant professor; Nancy Carlson ’84, department chair and associate professor; Patricia Walsh Warehime ’76, trustee; Judy Beck Ericksen ’80, associate professor; Linda Leimbach, lecturer; and Irene Batcho Kershaw ’75.