Every week students walk through the Sinclair hallways and see decorative boards on the walls. These boards represent different career fields that Sinclair offers.
In the basement of Building 1, the Occupational Therapy Assistant students work to make an eye-catching board that will educate people about their program.
According to Katie Walker, assistant professor with the OTA program, the boards are a great way to spotlight a career field that not many people know about.
“OT is a profession that is, just historically, underknown. People don’t understand what it is that we do in the general public,” she said.
The goal of the boards, according to Walker, is mainly to show what OT is and what it does to the general public.
“We’re often, if you encounter an OT, you’ll think that you’re interacting with a physical therapist, but we’re really a totally separate profession. And that’s something that we combat in the field for our entire careers,” she said, “So, we wanted to get the students starting off to really be able to articulate to people what it is our profession is about. So, to be able to advocate to the public for the profession and then to educate the public. That’s our two main goals of the boards.”
The theme for the boards changes by semester. OT students who are in their first year must design a board that brings light to the Occupational Therapy program while second year students must design a board that shows OT in different practice settings.
According to Walker, the creativity of the boards is up to the students. They decide the contents and the overall look of them. They do, however, have to follow a rubric for their grade.
“A big part of being an OT practitioner is creativity, and so this is a chance for us to showcase the creative side of our students as well as educate the public and advocate for the profession,” Walker said.
According to Walker, Occupational Therapy is underknown; however, it serves the public very well. The boards, she said, educate people that about the program and the services it offers.
“We are a profession that is therapy based, so we are serving the public. There are people that live out in the community that could benefit from our services and sometimes they don’t know how to ask for them. So, really just to educate them that there is this profession that helps anybody that is unable to participate in meaningful occupations, come see us,” she said.
The students have about 48 hours to complete the boards and they are graded on them. Walker said that the students’ boards have become very popular and cemented within the community.
“People come by on a daily basis from the community to comment on our boards. They literally come in just to the office just to say how much they love them. Some people come to see what they are now since they know that we’re doing them,” she said.
The students, according to Walker, are proud of what they accomplish with their boards and are excited to put their passion on display for people to see as they walk through the hallway.
“I think it gives the students a sense of pride. We want them to be proud of their work and of the profession that they are going into. Some of them are so passionate about it and this is kind of their rewarding part,” she said.
For anyone who would like to check out the OTA Boards, they are located in the basement of Building 1 Room 031.
Laina Yost
Managing Editor